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Your  little  brother  seeking  the  lost. 
Lucius  B.  Compton. 
"Studying  to  show  myself  approved  unto  (iod,  a  workman 
that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of 
truth." — 2  Tim.  ii,   15. 


LIFE  OF 

LUCIUS  B.  COMPTON 

The   Mountain    Evangelist; 

OR, 

From  the  Depths  of  Sin  to  the  Heights  of  Holiness, 

BY     HIMSELF. 


OFFICE  OF  GOD'S  REVIVALIST. 

Mount  of  Blessings,  CINCINNATI,  OHIO. 


COPYRIGHT,    1903, 
BY  god's  revivalist  OFFICE 


00 


Sister  Compton. 


DEDICATORY. 


To  Sara  Etta  Compton, 

the  beloved  wife,  whose  holy  infliience  and  godly 
example  has  ever  been  the  greatest  earthly  inspiration 
of  my  life;  and  who,  through  poverty,  distresses,  and 
Hery  trials,  has  never  shrunk  from  her  duty,  but  has 
ever  trustingly  said,  "Thy  will  be  done,  0  Lord;" 
and  to  the  memory  of 

Marietta  Compton^ 
our  only  daughter,  the  little  rosebud  that  bloomed  in 
our  home  for  a  short  season,  then  faded  away  from 
our  presence,  to  bloom  with  brighter  luster  in  the 
gardens  of  the  skies. 

Is  THIS  Book  Lovingly  Dedicated. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  p^^^ 

Birth  and  Chii^dhood, ii 


CHAPTER  II. 
Backsliding, i6 

CHAPTER  III. 
In  Satan's  Clutches, 21 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Prodigal's  Return,  -- 28 

CHAPTER  V. 

Street  Preaching  and  Other  Experiences,  -        -        -      36 

CHAPTER  VI. 
First  Evangelistic  Tour,         - 43 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Sanctification,      --- -49 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Back  to  Western  North  Carolina,       -       -       -       -         56 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Experiences  Continued, 65 

5 


6  Contents. 

CHAPTER  X.  p^^^ 

Death  of  Little  Marietta, 72 

CHAPTER  XL 
Lessons  for  the  Sanctified  and  Others  to  Learn,       -      75 

CHAPTER  XIL 
Secret  Societies, 85 

A  Sermon, 90 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  is  with  no  small  amount  of  pleasure  that  I  comply 
with  the  request  of  my  precious  friend,  brother,  and  co- 
laborer  in  the  evangelistic  field  to  write  a  few  introduc- 
tory lines  to  this  valuable  biography  of  his  life. 

Brother  Compton  has  written  this  sketch  of  his  life 
in  acquiescence  to  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  many 
friends  and  spiritual  children,  who  desire  such  a  biog- 
raphy as  this  volume  affords  of  the  life  of  the  one  who 
led  them  to  God. 

I  am  aware,  owing  to  the  natural  distaste  for  anything 
eulogistic  that  characterizes  our  brother,  that  some  things 
I  shall  say  will  not  seem  palatable  to  him;  but  when  I 
say  that  my  object  is  alone  to  state  the  plain  facts,  and 
thus  more  largely  glorify  the  blessed  Chjist  who  has  made 
him  what  he  is,  I  know  that  he  will  allow  his  friend  to 
speak  candidly. 

In  the  providence  of  God  it  became  my  good  fortune, 
when  a  young  man  just  out  of  my  teens,  to  win  the  love 
and  confidence  of  this  man  of  God.  The  call  of  the  Lord 
had  been  ringing  through  my  soul  until  it  had  become 
imperative  that  I  should  launch  out  into  the  evangelistic 
field  and  spend  all  my  energies  for  God  and  souls.  The 
field  looked  so  large,  and  the  boy  so  small,  that  I  needed 

7 


8  Introduction. 

just  such  an  offer  as  an  experienced  warrior  like  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  gave  me.  Consequently  we  "harnessed 
double,"  and  bade  farewell  to  my  own  Northern  clime, 
and  plunged  into  the  North  Carolina  mountains.  Here 
God,  through  the  example  and  companionship  of  Brother 
Compton,  taught  me  lessons  of  endurance,  boldness,  hu- 
mility, and  contentment  under  all  circumstances,  favor- 
able or  otherwise,  and  mostly  the  latter,  which  have 
largely  determined  what  present  usefulness  I  may  possess. 

Evangelist  Lucius  B.  Compton  is  pre-eminently  the 
leading  exponent  of  red-hot  Bible  holiness  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Western  North  Carolina,  and  is  such  a  rebuke  to 
the  dead  ecclesiasticism  so  prevalent  in  that  country,  that 
he  is  hated  and  dreaded  by  such  more  than  any  other  man. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  is  loved  and  reverenced  by  all  who 
are  willing  to  pay  the  price  of  renouncing  all  worldliness 
and  go  all  the  way  with  God. 

Brother  Compton  is,  in  the  fullest  sense,  a  miracle  of 
Grace.  No  one  realizes  this  more  fully  than  himself; 
hence  he  always  gives  God  all  the  glory  for  every  victory. 
During  his  youthful  years  he  was  a  cripple,  hobbling 
about  on  crutches,  so  tongue-tied  that  he  could  scarcely 
be  understood,  and  so  void  of  learning  that  at  the  age  of 
twenty  he  could  scarcely  spell  out  the  simplest  sentences ; 
to-day,  but  eight  years  later,  he  is  one  of  the  clearest, 
most  fluent  of  speakers,  a  deep  Bible  student,  a  leader  of 
a  great  work  in  his  home  State,  and  a  soul-winner  whom 
God  has  honored  with  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  spiritual 
children. 


Introduction.  9 

The  old-time  power  of  God  attends  his  preaching. 
By  old-time  power  I  mean  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit 
which  made  the  preaching  of  early  Methodism  and  Quak- 
erism peculiar  and  unusual,  when  men  and  women  would 
fall  under  the  power  of  God  and  lie  as  dead  for  hours, 
then  come  through  with  a  glorious,  soul-thrilling  shout 
of  victory.  I  have  seen  Brother  Compton  preach  with 
such  glory  of  heaven  upon  his  face,  and  with  words  so 
freighted  with  the  unction  of  the  Spirit,  that  many  of  the 
saints  would  leap  to  their  feet  and  run  about  the  house 
in  holy  joy,  until  soon  religious  pandemonium  would  make 
further  preaching  impossible  or  impracticable,  and  an  altar 
call  would  be  the  result  before  the  sermon  was  over  half 
completed. 

I  beHeve  that  thousands  will  rejoice  with  me  over  the 
publication  of  this  book.  Like  the  preaching  of  this  man, 
his  book  is  written  with  no  uncertain  sound.  We  have 
read  many  books  which  were  supposed  to  be  clear,  com- 
prehensive, and  instructive  epistles  of  the  second  grace 
of  entire  sanctification,  only  to  find  that  often  they  were 
but  a  compromise  from  which  one  could  get  little,  or  noth- 
ing,  substantial  and  convincing. 

I  humbly  pray  that  a  copy  of  this  book  may  fall  into 
the  hands  of  tens  of  thousands  of  those  who  are  wander- 
ing along  through  the  brambles  and  briers  of  sin,  and  lead 
them  into  the  green  pastures  of  the  Lord ;  that  it  may  also 
fall  into  the  hands  of  those  who  have  spent  many  years 
battling  with  their  indwelling  foe,  the  Old  Man  of  sin, 
and  lead  them  across  the  Jordan  of  full  consecration  into 


lo  Introduction. 

the  bright,  fruitful  Canaan  land  of  entire  sanctification. 
Let  the  holy  people  of  all  lands  pray  that  the  God  of  all 
grace,  who  has  made  the  subject  of  this  book  what  he  is, 
may  keep  him  in  the  dust  of  humility,  and  uncompromis- 
ingly on  a  stretch  for  more  of  the  simplicity,  unction,  and 
power  with  which  he  is  now  indued. 
Yours  for  Bible  Holiness, 

John  C.  Patty. 


LUCIUS  B.  COMPTON 
THE  MOUNTAIN  EVANGELIST, 


CHAPTER  I. 
BIRTH  AND  CHILDHOOD. 

I  WAS  bom  April  21,  1875,  in  a  one-roomed  log-cabin, 
in  Haywood  County,  in  the  mountains  of  Western  North 
Carolina.  My  father  was  a  mountain  preacher,  and  very 
poor,  with  a  large  family  to  provide  for,  so  my  earliest 
recollections  are  of  poverty  and  want. 

At  the  age  of  five  years  I  became  a  sufferer  with  the 
white  swelling,  which  was  located  in  my  left  knee.  The 
doctors  said  I  was  destined  to  be  a  cripple  the  rest  of  my 
life.  Besides  this  painful  affliction,  I  had  another  in  many 
respects  equally  annoying.  This  was  such  a  stammering 
tongue  that  I  had  great  difficulty  in  speaking  my  own 
name.  On  account  of  these  afflictions,  and  school  facil- 
ities very  poor,  I  was  deprived  of  an  early  education, 
which  in  many  ways  has  been  a  deep  regret  of  later  years. 
Since  I  was  the  youngest  of  the  family,  and  a  cripple,  I 
was  humored  in  everything,  and  had  my  own  way — a  fact 
which  made  me  a  spoiled  boy  from  the  beginning.  Let 
me  say  to  parents,  out  of  my  own  experience,  that  if  you 
have  a  sickly  or  invalid  child,  teach  him  that  he  must  obey 
as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  children,  and  in  later  years,  should 
health  be  restored,  he  will  thank  you  for  your  early  dis- 
cipline. 

II 


12  IvUCIUS    B.    COMPTON 


Conviction. 


My  parents  enjoyed  good,  old-fashioned  religion — the 
kind  which  took  the  Bible  at  its  word,  and  believed  it 
without  any  ''ifs,"  "ands,"  or  "buts."  They  were  content 
to  believe  it  without  any  modern  ''fixing  up."  Conse- 
quently they  taught  us  children  that  there  was  a  hell 
which  was  hot,  everlasting,  and  unquenchable.  They  told 
us  that  people  who  did  not  repent  of  their  sins  would 
spend  eternity  there.  How  well  I  remember  the  hell- 
scare  this  intelligence  put  upon  me  when  but  a  child.  Al- 
though many  years  have  passed  since  then,  I  to-day  have 
as  great  horror  of  it  as  ever.  God  grant  it  may  never 
leave  me  till  I  hear  His  "Well  done,  thou  good  and  faith- 
ful servant."  One  day,  while  in  the  yard  making  mother 
a  duck-coop,  without  any  apparent  cause  for  it,  I  was  sud- 
denly seized  with  such  an  intense  conviction  of  sin  that 
all  my  young  life  came  before  me  in  a  flash.  How  dark 
it  looked !  Sin,  black  and  dismal,  seemed  to  blot  every 
page  of  my  memory.  I  saw  the  shortness  of  time  and 
the  length  of  eternity.  I  quickly  threw  down  the  hammer 
I  was  using,  and  hobbled  into  the  house  to  mother's  side, 
where  in  fear  I  clung  to  her.  I  wanted  to  tell  her  just 
how  I  felt;  but  the  devil  closed  my  lips,  and  I  could  not. 
Although  I  did  not  yield  to  those  convictions  that  morn- 
ing by  mother's  duck-coop,  still  I  never  could  get  rid  of 
the  impressions  there  received. 

Ske:ptic. 

I  always  loved  preachers,  but  many  of  them  nearly 
made  a  skeptic  of  me.  It  was  in  this  way:  I  always  at- 
tended the  preaching  services  with  my  parents.  Often 
have  I  heard  sermons  that  melted  my  heart,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  that  the  preacher  was  an  angel  dropped  into  the 


The;  Mountain  Evangelist  13 

pulpit  from  the  skies.     I\Iy  father  sometimes  entertained 
the  preachers,  so  they  would  go  home  with  us  for  dinner, 
when  they  would  often  begin  to  tell  jokes  at  the  table 
about  the  dinner  which  some  one  set  before  them.    After 
dinner  we  children  would  follow  them  out  under  a  shade- 
tree,  and,  through  puffs  of  tobacco-smoke  and  squirts  of 
the  filthy  quid,  hear  them  tell  smutty  tales.     In  the  fore- 
noon in  the  pulpit  I  heard  them  tell  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
that  dwelt  in  them ;  in  the  afternoon  their  own  deportment 
forced  me  to  believe  it  was  the  spirit  of  the  evil  one  that 
dwelt  there.     I  have  often  been  at  the  village  stores  and 
heard   ministers   and   deacons   of   the    Church   tell    such 
smutty  and  indecent  stories  that  any  moral  man  should 
blush  to  hear.     To  think  that  on  service  days  such  men 
would  take  the  stand  and  point  sinners  to  Christ,  the  way 
of  salvation,   sickened  me  of  the  whole  thing.     I  often 
complained  of  my  knee  paining  me  just  for  excuse  to  stay 
away  from  preaching.    O,  my  brother  ministers,  may  God 
help  us  to  know  that  ''out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart 
the  mouth  speaketh." 

Conversion. 

At  twelve  years  of  age  I  attended  a  meeting  in  the 
Methodist  church  of  Clyde,  North  Carolina,  conducted 
by  a  spiritual  man.  My  conviction  for  sin  became  such  a 
burden,  making  life  so  unbearably  miserable,  that  I 
yielded  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  went  to  the  altar.  I  tried 
to  pray,  but  could  not.  I  was  fearful  of  what  my  young 
friends  would  think  of  me ;  so  I  left  the  altar,  and  my  con- 
dition grew  worse  and  worse,  and  I  felt  forever  doomed 
to  hell.  When  I  got  home  my  parents  encouraged  me  to 
go  on  till  I  received  the  evidence  that  I  was  accepted  of 
Christ.  The  next  night  I  went  to  the  meeting,  and  the 
text  of  the  sermon  I  have  never  forgotten :  ''Because  I 


14  Lucius  B.  Compton 

have  called,  and  you  refused;  I  have  stretched  out  my 
hand,  and  no  man  regarded;  but  ye  have  set  at  nought 
all  my  counsel,  and  would  none  of  my  reproof :  I  also  will 
laugh  at  your  calamity ;  I  will  mock  when  your  fear  Com- 
eth. .  .  .  Then  shall  they  call  upon  me,  but  I  will 
not  answer;  they  shall  seek  me  early,  but  they  shall  not 
find  me."  O  how  that  message  went  to  my  heart !  I  got 
to  the  place  where  I  cared  to  talk  to  no  one.  I  felt  that, 
without  exception,  I  was  the  meanest  boy  in  the  country. 
Many  times  I  resorted  to  the  woods,  and,  hidden  amid 
the  underbrush  and  leaves,  poured  out  my  heart  to  God. 
One  morning  I  came  to  the  place  where  I  fully  realized  it 
must  be  settled.  All  had  left  the  Church  except  mother 
and  a  few  friends.  Then  it  seemed  that  all  hope  was  gone 
and  I  was  eternally  lost,  when,  suddenly,  the  glorious 
sunlight  of  heaven  flooded  my  soul.  O  the  brightness  and 
beauty  of  everything!  Mother  never  did  look  so  sweet 
to  me  as  then,  and  the  friends  whom  I  had  known  for 
years,  seemed  to  have  changed.  Paul  tells  the  secret 
of  all  this  phenomenon  where  he  says :  "Therefore  if  any 
man  be  in  Christ  Jesus,  he  is  a  new  creature :  old  things 
are  passed  away;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new." 
When  I  got  home  the  little  chink  and  daubed  log-cabin 
looked  like  a  mansion.  Did  I  fear  to  tell  what  God  had 
done  for  me?  No;  you  could  not  keep  me  from  telling 
it.  After  years  of  experience  in  God's  work  of  saving 
souls,  there  is  a  doubt  in  my  mind  about  people  who  claim 
to  get  saved  and  do  not  tell  it  at  home  and  everywhere 
and  every  time  they  have  opportunity.  God  gave  me  a 
passion  for  souls.  I  would  go  out  in  the  congregation 
and  exhort  sinners  to  come  to  Jesus.  When  I  met  sinners 
on  the  road  I  would  stop  them  and  tell  them  about  the 
wonderful  Savior  I  had  found,  and  urge  them  to  seek 
Him. 


The  Mountain  Evangelist. 


15 


A  Baptist. 
I  joined  the  Baptist  Church  at  Clyde,  North  Carolina 
and,  with  about  twenty-five  others,  was  baptized.     We 
organized   a   young   men's   prayer-meeting,    which   was 
largely  attended,  and  the  power  of  God  was  with  us     The 
prayer-meeting  was  such  an  attraction  to  me  that  it  often 
took  special  grace  for  me  to  wait  till  time  for  it  to  begin 
How  different  from  the  condition  of  the  vast  majority  of 
professing  Christians  of  these  days,  when  it  is  almost'im- 
possible  to  get  them  to  prayer-meeting  without  the  special 
inducement  of  a  program,  or  social  hour,  or  some  other 
hilarious  Church  spree  after  it.    God  have  pity!     I  was 
sometimes  selected  to  lead  these  meetings,  and,  although 
but  twelve  years  old,  father  would  have  me  conduct  the 
prayer  service  at  the  family  altar.     In  all  my  efforts  for 
good   God  signally  blessed,  and  my  heart  abounded  con- 
tinually m  His  love.    Precious  days  to  my  memory! 

Call  to  the  Ministry. 
During  these  days,  when  I  spent  much  time  alone 
meditating  upon  the  things  of  God,  I  received  decided 
convictions  of  His  calling  me  to  His  exclusive  work 
1  realized  how  ignorant  I  was  in  school-learning,  for, 
although  twelve  years  old,  I  had  never  spent  over  six 
months  m  school.    I  hungered  to  know  God's  Word,  and 
I  could  not  learn  it  until  I  could  learn  to  read  it.     My 
father  would  often  read  Scripture  to  me,  and  I  would  com- 
mit It  to  memory,  and,  with  a  passion  to  tell  others  what 
1  had  found,  I  would  conduct  cottage  prayer-meetings, 
and  thus  use  these  Scriptures  I  had  stored  away  in  my 

efforts  for  His  glory.     God   did   exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  I  asked  or  even  thought.    Glory  to  His  name  - 


CHAPTER  II. 
BACKSLIDING. 

Some  months  after  the  preceding  experiences  my 
father  one  day  asked  me  to  do  an  errand  for  him,  and 
for  some  reason  I  failed  to  do  it.  He  corrected  me  for 
my  disobedience,  and,  spontaneously  and  to  my  surprise, 
a  feeling  of  resentment  came  into  my  heart.  God  knows 
I  did  not  want  it  there ;  but  I  could  n't  help  it.  I  hastened 
to  the  woods,  and  went  to  prayer  over  that  which  I  had 
done.  I  struggled  with  an  inward  foe  so  long  that  my 
parents  grew  uneasy  about  what  had  become  of  me.  How- 
ever, I  gained  the  victory,  and  God  gave  me  grace  to  con- 
fess my  wrong  to  father,  and,  with  the  confession,  my 
joy  was  restored.  This  was  the  first  I  ever  realized 
that  there  was  carnality  in  my  heart.  I  have  since  learned 
its  name  to  he  inhred  sin.  O,  had  there  been  some  one 
then  to  tell  me  that  there  was  power  in  Jesus'  blood  to 
take  it  out  just  as  I  had  learned  there  was  power  in  His 
blood  to  pardon  a  lost  sinner!  But  no  one  seemed  to 
know  about  any  such  work  of  grace.  They  told  me  that 
my  trouble  was  the  flesh,  and  as  long  as  I  lived  I  could 
expect  fearful  battles  with  it.  Thank  God,  I  have  since 
found  it  to  be  carnality,  the  enemy  of  my  soul,  and  that, 
through  faith  in  Jesus,  this  foe  can  be  forever  eliminated 
from  the  believer's  heart,  resulting  in  constant  victory 
over  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil ! 

By  this  time,  twelve  months  from  the  date  of  my 
conversion,  the  whole  community  was  spiritually  dead, 

i6 


The  'Mountain  Evangeust.  17 

and  the  devil  began  his  work  on  me.  Being  but  a  lad, 
with  little  spiritual  help,  and  in  constant  battle  with  the 
carnal  mind,  I  became  discouraged.  I  resorted  to  the 
pine  thickets  for  hours,  wondering  what  was  to  become 
of  my  poor  soul.  I  could  not  endure  the  thought  of  going 
back  to  the  world,  and  to  continue  in  this  lukewarm  con- 
dition I  would  not.  My  young  companions  who  had 
been  saved  in  the  meeting  a  year  previous  were  all  back- 
slidden and  Uving  in  open  sin.  Satan  whispered  in  my 
ear,  saying :  "You  are  but  a  boy  of  thirteen ;  what 's  the 
use  of  your  separating  yourself  from  the  boys  of  your 
community?  You  are  more  religious  than  the  old  folks." 
So  the  devil  got  my  eyes  off  of  Christ  and  upon  the  old 
folks  of  the  town.  They  had  let  the  prayer-meeting  go 
down,  and  no  longer  encouraged  the  young  converts.  I 
have  often  gone  to  prayer-meeting,  and  been  the  onl^ 
person  there.  I  have  stood  on  the  church  platform  wait- 
ing for  some  one  to  open  the  door.  No  one  would  come, 
and  I  would  return  home  crying. 

Church  Frolics. 

The  officers  of  the  Churches  would  have  candy  stews, 
parties,  and  occasionally  a  dance  at  their  homes,  and  the 
preachers  would  allow  their  children  to  attend.  I  re- 
member distinctly  that  about  the  first  condemnation  that 
came  upon  me  was  when  I  attended  one  of  the  Church 
fandangoes.  It  was  a  candy  stew  for  the  young  folks  of 
the  community,  given  at  the  home  of  Brother  W.  The 
preacher's  children  called  at  our  home  to  invite  brother 
Jim  and  me  to  go  with  them.  Father  never  favored  hav- 
ing his  children  go  to  such  places ;  but  those  boys  begged 
so  hard  that  mother  consented,  saying,  "Brother  W.  is 
a  good  man,  and  it  is  at  his  home."  My  first  impression 
was  not  to  go,  because  I  felt  in  my  heart  that  it  was  not 
2 


i8  Lucius  B.  Compton 

the  place  for  a  true  Christian.  Again  the  devil  got  the 
victory,  and  I  went.  I  found  the  old  folks  in  the  kitchen 
stewing  candy,  and  the  young  people  in  another  room 
having  a  "big"  time  to  the  tune  of  a  violin.  Immediately 
upon  entering  the  room  I  felt  condemned.  Their  con- 
versation and  actions  were  anything  but  those  of  Chris- 
tians. I  did  not  stay,  but  hastened  home,  and  spent  a 
sleepless  night.  I  would  n't  go  to  Sunday-school  the  next 
Sunday  for  fear  I  would  be  called  on  to  pray.  Some 
would  tell  me  that  candy-pullings  were  right,  but  I  knew 
in  my  heart  that  God's  people  should  not  participate  in 
worldly  frolics. 

Christ  Grieved  Away. 

O  the  loneliness  of  those  days !  I  wept  and  prayed, 
and  wandered  over  the  hills  and  through  the  valleys,  seek- 
ing something  to  satisfy  my  poor  broken  heart.  I  went 
to  the  pastor,  and  asked  him  to  remove  my  name  from 
the  Church  roll.  Very  reluctantly  he  was  persuaded  to 
do  so.  I  was  now  about  fourteen  years  old,  and  com- 
pletely backslidden.  No  need  to  preach  to  me  the  im- 
possibility of  backslidding  and  losing  one's  soul  after  once 
being  truly  born  of  God.  I  knew  that  I  was  lost,  that 
God  had  withdrawn  His  Spirit  from  me,  and  the  Scrip- 
ture was  fulfilled  in  my  experience  which  says :  "But  the 
unclean  spirit,  when  he  is  gone  out  of  the  man,  passeth 
through  waterless  places,  seeking  rest  and  findeth  it  not. 
Then  he  saith,  I  will  return  into  my  house  whence  I  came 
out ;  and  when  he  is  come  he  findeth  it  empty,  swept  and 
garnished.  Then  goeth  he  and  taketh  with  himself  seven 
other  spirits  more  wicked  than  himself,  and  they  enter  in 
and  dwell  there :  and  the  last  state  of  that  man  becometh 
worse  than  the  first."  Yes,  with  the  last  clause  of  this 
Scripture  I  could  say  that  the  last  state  of  this  boy  be- 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  19 

came  worse  than  the  first.  The  devil  again  took  up  his 
abode  in  my  heart,  and  brought  with  him  more  wicked 
spirits  than  ever  influenced  my  Hfe  before.  "When  the 
righteous  turneth  away  from  his  righteousness,  and  com- 
mitteth  iniquity  and  doeth  according  to  all  the  abomina- 
tions that  the  wicked  man  doeth,  shall  he  Uve?  All  his 
righteousness  that  he  hath  done  shall  not  be  mentioned: 
in  his  trespass  that  he  hath  trespassed,  and  in  his  sin  that 
he  hath  sinned,  in  them  shall  he  die."  When  one  has 
once  tasted  of  the  joys  of  salvation  and  turns  away  from 
the  Savior,  seek  as  he  may  for  something  to  satisfy,  it 
can  not  be  found.  One  of  the  most  painful  remembrances 
of  those  dreary  days  to  me  now  is,  that  they  were  so 
largely  caused  by  the  worldly  living  of  those  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  Christians — those  to  whom  we  young  people 
looked  for  guidance,  comfort,  and  example.  If  in  those 
months  of  endeavor  to  serve  my  Lord  I  had  had  the  sym- 
pathy, prayers,  and  godly  example  of  the  Church  that  a 
true  Church  always  gives,  I  do  not  believe  I  should  ever 
have  wandered  away  from  God.  O  the  dark,  sinful,  reck- 
less years  I  would  have  been  saved  from  had  I  held  fast 
to  that  early  profession  of  faith !  Thousands  of  preachers 
and  professing  Christians,  in  hell,  will  hear  the  curses 
of  those  once  converted,  taken  into  their  Church,  and 
allowed  to  starve  to  death  for  lack  of  real  gospel  truth 
and  living.  Awful  will  it  be  in  the  city  of  endless  night 
for  them  to  look  into  the  demoniac  faces  of  scores  who 
are  there  because  of  their  unfaithfulness.  Ministers  who 
preach  art,  science,  nature,  philosophy,  literature,  political 
economy,  etc.,  instead  of  Christ  crucified,  as  is  being  al- 
most universally  done  to-day,  and  who  substitute  the 
learning  of  the  college  for  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
are  greasing  a  plank  upon  which  millions  are  slipping  into 
the  bottomless  pit  yearly.     May  God  help  us,   brother 


20  Lucius  B.  Compton 

ministers,  to  obey  the  Divine  injunction  to  "tarry  in  Jeru- 
salem until  endued  with  power  from  on  high!"  Then, 
when  the  Holy  Ghost  falls  upon  you,  as  He  did  upon 
those  at  Pentecost,  sanctifying  your  hearts  and  filling  you 
with  the  Divine  power  and  equipment  for  service,  go  forth 
as  a  flame  of  fire  for  God  and  souls.  When  you  become 
a  flame  of  fire,  you  are  a  true  exemplification  of  God's 
definition  of  a  preacher — "Who  maketh  his  angels  spirits 
and  his  ministers  a  flame  of  fire." 


CHAPTER  III. 
IN  SATAN'S  CLUTCHES. 

By  the  time  I  had  reached  the  age  of  fifteen  my  crip- 
pled knee  had  become  strong,  and  I  was  able  to  do  as 
heavy  work  as  any  boy  of  that  age.  How  swiftly  I  had 
gone  to  the  devil!  But  fifteen  and  all  love  for  father, 
mother,  brothers,  sisters,  home,  God,  Church,  and  all  else 
that  was  good,  had  evanesced !  I  became  so  wild  and 
unruly  that  my  parents  could  not  control  me.  I  was  a 
notoriously  bad  boy  of  the  town.  If  there  was  any 
trouble  on  hand,  who  did  n't  know  that  Luch  Compton 
was  in  it?  Nothing  suited  me  like  a  scrap  with  the 
neighbor  boys.  Try  as  they  would,  my  parents  could  not 
control  or  check  me  in  my  reckless  career;  so  one  day 
I  ran  away  from  home,  not  knowing  or  caring  whether 
I  ever  returned. 

At  this  time  George  Vanderbilt  was  employing  hun- 
dreds of  men  upon  his  beautiful  mansion  and  estate  about 
five  miles  from  Asheville,  North  Carolina.  So  thither  I 
went,  and  procured  a  position,  thus  being  thrown  in  com- 
pany with  all  classes  of  men.  I  believe  many  of  those 
men  were  about  as  wicked  as  the  devil  could  make  them. 
Although  I  was  about  the  youngest  employee  on  the 
works  I  quickly  acquired  many  of  the  evil  habits  of  the 
older  men,  and  was  soon  noted  for  my  wild  and  sinful 
nature.  I  became  addicted  to  drink  and  other  vices  too 
vile  to  mention.  I  would  not  go  to  any  kind  of  religious 
service,  and  tried  my  best  to  make  an  infidel  of  myself. 
I  would  take  sides  against  the  Church,  and  sarcastically 

21 


22  Lucius  B.  Compton 

tell  all  I  knew  against  preachers  and  professing  Chris- 
tians. I  got  good  wages,  and  spent  every  dollar  from 
one  pay-day  to  another.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  I  had 
every  indication  of  a  hopeless  case.  My  parents  were 
broken-hearted  over  the  ruin  of  their  baby  boy.  At  one 
time  my  mother  was  thought  to  be  losing  her  mind  over 
my  condition.  I  would  never  write  home  because  I  had 
lost  all  love  for  home.  I  doubt  not  that  it  would  have 
been  a  relief  to  my  parents  to  know  I  was  dead,  because 
they  lived  in  constant  expectancy  of  hearing  I  had  been 
killed  or  murdered  in  some  way. 

Home  Again. 

One  Christmas-day  I  decided  to  go  to  my  home,  not 
to  see  my  people,  but  to  have  a  spree  with  my  crowd. 
While  walking  down  one  of  the  home  streets  I  came  face 
to  face  with  my  dear  old  father.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  look  on  his  face,  so  sad  and  careworn,  tears  had  filled 
his  eyes,  and  his  emotions  were  so  strong  that  he  could 
not  or  did  not  speak  to  me.  I  knew  father  had  done  the 
best  he  could  to  raise  me  right,  and  his  presence  filled 
me  with  a  sense  of  guilt — such  an  impression  as  I  had 
not  experienced  for  many  years.  This  chance  meeting 
with  father  made  me  think  seriously  of  my  wayward  life, 
and  the  sorrow  I  had  brought  to  the  old  folks  at  home. 
A  spark  of  the  better  nature  which  still  remained  in  my 
heart  drew  me  to  the  old  home  to  see  my  mother.  As  I 
write  these  lines  I  can,  in  memory,  see  the  expression 
of  my  mother's  face.  She  threw  her  arms  about  my  neck, 
and  it  seemed  she  would  never  let  me  go.  Though  vile 
and  polluted  with  sin,  I  realized  that  mother  still  loved 
her  baby  boy.  As  long  as  I  remained,  neither  father  nor 
mother  could  speak  my  name  without  weeping.  The  time 
came  for  me  to  return  to  Asheville  to  my  work,  and 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  23 

mother  hurried  about  preparing  dinner  for  me,  as  I  was 
to  leave  in  the  afternoon.  Neither  father  nor  mother 
talked  much  that  morning;  they  both  had  heavy  hearts. 
I  dreaded  a  farewell  scene,  so  I  planned  to  slip  away 
without  saying  good-bye ;  but  father  kept  his  eyes  on  me, 
and  when,  after  dinner,  with  grip  in  hand,  I  started  for 
the  door,  he  placed  his  hand  upon  me,  and,  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  said :  "My  son,  you  may  never  come  back  to  see 
us  old  folks  again,  so  I  want  you  to  wait  and  let  us  have 
prayer  with  you.  You  have  broken  our  hearts  by  your 
wayward  life,  but  we  will  follow  you  with  our  prayers 
until  you  come  back  to  God  or  die  in  your  condition." 
I  have  never  forgotten  those  moments  of  prayer  mingled 
with  sobs  and  tears.  Truly  God  heard  in  behalf  of  His 
prodigal  son,  and  answered  those  petitions  in  His  own 
time.  I  left  that  humble  log-cabin  home  that  afternoon 
with  strange  impressions  upon  me;  but  once  more  back 
with  the  old  crowd,  I  wore  them  off,  and  continued  in  the 
path  of  sin. 

My  Future  Wiee. 

While  in  the  employ  of  Vanderbilt  I  met  with  a  young 
lady  who  was  attending  school  near  by,  and,  after  a 
further  acquaintance,  she  won  my  heart.  She  was  a  truly 
regenerated  Christian  and  devoted  to  her  Church.  Not 
knowing  anything  of  my  past  life,  she  accepted  my  atten- 
tions, and  on  her  account  I  began  to  attend  Church  serv- 
ices and  Sunday-school.  This  young  lady's  piety  made 
a  deep  impression  upon  me  for  good.  I  began  to  recall 
the  time  when  Jesus  was  so  precious  to  my  soul,  and 
longed  for  the  same  experience  again.  The  place  where 
I  worked  was  controlled  by  wicked  men,  and  my  com- 
panions were  wicked;  so,  although  my  poor  soul  was 
hungry  for  God,  the  devil  made  mountains  of  this  fact 
to  keep  me  away  from  Jesus. 


2.4  Lucius  B.  Compton 

A  Wanderer. 

I  became  restless  and  dissatisfied  with  my  situation, 
and  soon  left  it  for  parts  unknown.  I  wandered  from 
one  State  to  another.  When  I  would  stop  at  a  place, 
I  would  make  resolutions  to  do  better,  and  get  into  good 
company;  but  in  a  short  time  I  would  be  in  the  same 
kind  of  a  crowd  I  had  left.  As  water  will  find  its  level, 
so  will  a  young  man  find  his  when  seeking  a  crowd  of 
companions.  In  spite  of  all  the  good  resolutions  I  made, 
the  power  of  evil  in  my  heart  broke  them,  and  I  could 
say  with  Paul,  ''Truly  his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye 
obey;  whether  of  sin  unto  death,  or  of  obedience  unto 
righteousness."  All  the  resolutions  one  can  make,  with- 
out the  power  of  God  in  the  heart  to  carry  them  out,  are 
of  little  avail.  Young  man,  if  you  are  trying  to  reform 
without  Christ  in  your  heart,  let  me  tell  you  that  you 
are  undertaking  a  job  that  the  vast  majority  of  young 
men  like  you  never  finish. 

Railroading. 

I  one  day  found  myself  in  a  Western  town  where  rail- 
road work  was  being  done,  and  I  procured  a  position. 
Like  my  Vanderbilt  fellow-workmen,  these  men  were  a 
very  wicked  class.  I  got  into  their  deviltry,  and  found 
my  heart  getting  harder  and  harder,  and  less  susceptible 
to  the  truth  of  God  each  day.  I  became  so  reckless  I 
cared  for  neither  life  nor  death,  and  would  scarcely  have 
a  thought  about  eternal  things,  except  when  receiving  a 
letter  from  my  parents  or  betrothed  wife,  and  these  epis- 
tles affected  me  but  little.  This  condition  continued  for 
several  months,  until  the  spring  of  1893. 


The  Mountain  Evangdust.  25 

Strange  Experience. 

At  this  time,  about  sundown  one  evening,  I  had  a  re- 
markable experience.  Without  any  special  inducement, 
and  unsought,  a  terrible  load  of  conviction, came  upon  me. 
I  tried  to  wear  it  off;  but  it  became  deeper  and  deeper, 
until  night  had  succeeded  sundown,  and  I  thought  I 
would  surely  be  in  hell  before  morning.  The  visions  of 
my  mind  I  can  not  describe.  I  remembered  the  mercy  of 
God,  and  tried  to  pray,  but  I  could  not.  I  retired  to  my 
bed,  and  restlessly  tossed  about  till  daylight  came,  and 
with  it  somewhat  of  an  abatement  of  my  intense  fears. 
Never  was  the  sunshine  of  the  heavens  more  welcome 
to  me  than  that  day.  I  tried  to  appear  as  care-free  as 
ever,  but  no  one  knew  the  battle  between  heaven  and 
hell  that  was  waging  in  my  heart.  My  position  required 
my  presence  but  half  the  time,  and  I  spent  the  remainder 
wandering  across  the  fields  and  through  the  woods.  I  did 
not  want  to  see  any  one  through  the  day,  and  I  dreaded 
to  see  night  coming. 

Dreamed  of  Judgment. 

I  fell  asleep  one  night,  and  dreamed  that  the  trumpet 
had  sounded  and  the  Judgment  had  come.  I  saw  all  the 
people  of  all  nations  standing  before  Christ.  But  more 
distinctly  than  all  the  others  I  could  see  my  father,  mother, 
sister,  and  brothers  standing  on  the  right  hand  side  with 
Christ,  their  faces  radiant  with  His  glory.  My  turn  came 
to  be  judged,  and  the  name  of  Lucius  Compton  rang  from 
end  to  end  of  that  vast  judgment  hall;  but  ere,  with 
trembling  knees  and  pallid  countenance,  I  could  walk  to 
the  judgment  stand,  my  dear  old  mother,  with  face  which, 
in  spite  of  its  glory,  bore  evidence  of  untold  grief  and 


26  Lucius  B.  Compton 

agony,  interposed  herself  between  myself  and  the  judg- 
ment seat,  and,  weeping  bitterly,  cried,  "O  God,  this  is 
my  wayward  baby  boy ;  have  mercy  on  him !"  In  tones 
both  stern  and  kind  the  Judge  replied,  "I  have  been  merci- 
ful for  years,  but  your  boy  trampled  My  mercy  under  his 
feet ;"  and,  turning  to  me.  He  said,  "Lucius  Compton,  de- 
part from  Me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  Wit'i  this  I  cast  a  last  look 
at  the  loved  ones  of  my  earthly  days,  and  was  being 
borne  swiftly  to  hell  when  the  shrieks  of  the  doomed  and 
damned  awakened  me  suddenly  from  my  dream  to  find 
myself  crying  out  to  God  for  mercy.  I  promised  Him 
that  night,  if  He  would  keep  me  out  of  hell,  I  would  five 
for  Him.  I  had  been  very  profane,  so  much  so  that  I 
would  use  the  most  fearful  oaths  and  not  be  conscious 
of  the  fact  until  some,  even  of  my  wicked  companions, 
would  tell  me  of  it.  I  do  n't  remember  asking  God  to 
save  my  soul  at  this  time,  but  to  take  from  me  that  awful 
habit  of  swearing;  and,  sure  enough,  from  that  day  to 
this  I  have  never  uttered  an  oath,  and  have  ever  since  had 
a  horror  of  all  blasphemy.  My  fellow-workmen  noticed 
a  change  in  me,  and  especially  in  regard  to  cursing. 
V/hile  I  did  not  tell  the  boys  my  full  purpose  of  heart, 
I  did  tell  them  I  was  going  to  live  differently.  There 
were  no  Christians  in  the  crew,  and  not  many  who  even 
had  any  respect  for  Christianity,  so  I  had  no  one  in  whom 
to  confide.  God  only  knows  what  I  carried  in  my  heart 
and  mind  those  days.  I  feared  to  go  to  sleep  at  night 
without  leaving  a  Hght  burning  in  my  room.  I  con- 
cluded to  give  up  my  position  and  return  to  my  parents 
in  North  Carolina,  but  my  employer  persuaded  me  to 
remain  longer.  I  knew  my  only  peace  could  be  found  in 
salvation,  and  how  I  could  get  saved,  and  continue  to 
cook  for  that  crew  of  men  and  keep  saved,  was  more  than 


The 'Mountain  Evangelist.  27 

I  could  determine.  I  one  day  asked  a  foreman  if  he  be- 
lieved in  religion,  and  he  said  he  did,  because  his  dear  old 
blind  mother  was  a  Christian.  This  gave  me  boldness, 
and  I  opened  my  heart  to  him.  He  encouraged  me,  and 
said  he  hoped  some  day  to  be  a  Christian  himself.  Shortly 
after,  I  gave  up  my  position  with  a  full  determination 
to  give  my  heart  to  God.  I  returned  to  North  Carolina, 
and  visited  my  parents,  and  after  a  short  time  at  home 
was  married  to  Miss  Etta  Butler,  of  Asheville,  North 
Carolina,  the  young  lady  before  mentioned.  Although 
youthful  marriages  are  not  always  best,  this  one  proved 
to  be  one  of  the  most  fortunate  events  of  my  life.  My 
wife  was  a  sincere  Christian  girl,  and  the  first  night  in  our 
home  she  erected  the  family  altar,  and,  thank  God, 
through  her  unflinching  devotion  to  duty  it  has  never  been 
done  away. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  PRODIGAL'S  RETURN. 

Up  to  the  time  just  related  I  had  not  yielded  myself 
entirely  to  God,  although  'I  had  greatly  changed  and  had 
given  up  my  grosser  sins.  I  soon  returned  to  my  position 
in  Kentucky  as  a  cook  on  the  railroad.  I  had  no  rest  day 
or  night ;  the  burden  became  so  heavy  I  could  not  carry 
it  longer.  I  again  gave  up  my  position,  and  told  com- 
rades and  all,  "Good-bye  to  that  kind  of  a  hfe."  Instead 
of  returning  to  my  own  home,  I  went  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
I  secured  a  room,  and  set  about  in  earnest  to  seek  and 
find  God.  During  the  day  I  would  roam  over  the  city 
like  one  utterly  forsaken,  and  at  night  go  up  the  stairs  to 
my  little  room,  and  pray,  and  sob,  and  cry.  I  could  hear 
the  lonely  strike  of  the  city  clocks  as  they  pealed  out  the 
hours  of  twelve,  one,  two,  and  three.  Every  hour  seemed 
as  long  as  a  day.  An  occasional  footstep  on  the  street 
below  only  added  to  the  loneliness  and  distress  of  my 
poor  broken  heart.  I  prayed  as  best  I  could,  but  it  seemed 
I  could  never  find  peace.  The  black  and  gloomy  six 
years  of  a  wasted  life  came  ever  before  me,  and  as  I  now 
write  of  them  I  would  give  much  to  forget  them. 

I  heard  of  a  mission  on  Plum  Street,  and  went  down 
one  night  to  the  service.  In  that  place  I  saw  men  and 
women,  and  heard  them  tell  how  God  had  saved  them 
from  drunkards,  harlots,  gamblers,  wife  deserters,  and 
from  almost  every  kind  of  sinful  life,  and,  although  their 
faces  were  physically  marred  by  sin  and  debauchery,  they 
shone  with  the  radiance  of  heaven.    I  wanted  such  a  sal- 

28 


The:  Mountain  Evangelist.  29 

vation,  and  arose  and  told  them  so,  and  that  I  was  a  poor 
mother's  boy,  far  from  home  and  far  from  God.  When  I 
sat  down  one  of  the  leaders  sang — 

"At  home  or  abroad,  in  the  alley  or  street, 
Wherever  I  chance  in  this  wide  world  to  meet 
A  girl  who  is  thoughtless,  a  boy  that  is  wild, 
My  heart  echoes  softly,  '  It  is  some  mother's  child.' 

And  when  I  see  those  o'er  whom  long  years  have  rolled. 
Whose  hearts  have  been  hardened,  whose  spirits  are  cold. 
Be  it  a  woman  all  fallen,  or  man  all  defiled, 
A  voice  whispers  sadly,  '  It  is  some  mother's  child.' 

No  matter  how  deep  he  is  sunken  in  sin ; 

No  matter  how  much  he  is  shunned  by  his  kin ; 

No  matter  how  foul  is  his  fountain  of  joy ; 

Tho'  guilty  and  loathsome,  he  is  some  mother's  boy. 

That  head  hath  been  pillowed  on  tenderest  breast ; 
That  form  hath  been  wept  o'er,  those  lips  have  been  pressed ; 
That  soul  hath  been  prayed  for  in  tones  sweet  and  mild, 
For  her  sake  deal  gently  with  some  mother's  child." 

Victory. 

I  was  so  touched  by  this  precious  song  and  the  other 
things  bearing  upon  me  that  I,  that  night,  settled  it  in 
my  heart  that  I  was  forever  done  with  sin.  I  was  walk- 
ing down  Main  Street  the  next  afternoon,  talking  to  God, 
when  all  at  once  heaven  seemed  to  open,  and  part  of  it 
fell  in  my  soul.  What  I  did  I  do  not  know,  for  I  was 
not  responsible.  God  had  turned  my  spiritual  darkness 
into  day.  Though  dead  in  trespasses  and  sin,  I  had  been 
quickened  into  life.  I  found  myself  shouting  praises  to 
God  on  the  busy  thoroughfare.  I  rushed  around  to  my 
place  of  business,  and  wrote  to  my  wife  and  parents  tell- 
ing what  the  dear  Lord  had  done  for  me.  I  told  my  busi- 
ness partner  that  I  was  saved..    I  went  to  the  mission 


30  Lucius  B.  Compton 

that  night,  and,  although  the  devil  tried  to  scare  me  by 
telling  me  I  was  ignorant  and  tongue-tied,  I  arose,  and, 
with  stammering  tongue  and  trembling  knees,  told  how 
Jesus  had  saved  my  soul.  O  how  God  blessed  me  when 
I  confessed  His  pardoning  grace !  During  the  day  I 
talked  Christ  to  all  with  whom  I  had  opportunity,  and  at 
night  I  could  hardly  wait  till  the  mission  service  started, 
it  was  such  food  to  my  soul  that  had  been  starving  in  the 
devil's  Egypt  for  six  long  years. 

At  once  God  showed  me  that  I  could  not  continue  to 
keep  my  place  of  business  open  on  Sunday.  My  partner 
was  a  worldly  man,  and  God's  plain  word,  *'Be  ye  not 
unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers,"  rang  in  my 
ears  until  I  saw  we  must  dissolve  all  business  relations 
as  partners.  All  my  own  and  my  wife's  money  was  in- 
vested. I  should  have  been  glad  to  sell  my  interest  to 
my  partner,  but  I  knew  he  had  no  ready  money.  I  could 
not  remain  in  partnership  longer,  so  I  just  left  money, 
business,  and  all,  and  that  is  the  last  I  ever  had  to  do  with 
it.  That  morning  I  stepped  out  with  but  seven  dollars 
in  my  pocket,  with  nothing  in  sight,  and  my  wife  away 
down  in  the  mountains  of  Western  North  Carolina,  want- 
ing to  come  to  me.  I  wrote  her  a  letter,  saying  I  had 
lost  all  of  our  hard-earned  money,  and  she  replied,  "Let 
all  go,  but  stay  with  Jesus,"  and  those  words  were  worth 
more  to  me  than  all  the  money  I  had  lost. 

HOUSEKEIEPING. 

With  the  seven  dollars  I  rented  a  room  on  the  fifth 
floor  of  a  large  tenement-house,  bought  for  two  dollars 
a  second-hand  folding  lounge  to  serve  as  a  bed,  a  small 
monkey  stove  for  one  dollar  and  a  half,  and  a  stewpan 
and  a  chair.  I  used  a  drygoods  box  for  a  table,  and 
another  for  a  cupboard,  and  a  tomato-can  for  a  teapot. 


Thi5  Mountain  Evangelist.  31 

My  wife  sent  me  a  few  dishes  and  some  bed  clothing,  and 
this  constituted  my  household  furnishings.  In  a  few  days 
the  Lord  opened  the  way  for  me  to  get  work  at  just 
enough  wages  to  pay  room-rent  and  procure  a  little  food 
to  eat. 

My  parents  let  my  wife  have  enough  money  to  come 
to  me,  and,  I  tell  you,  it  was  an  awful  test  for  me  to  take 
her  to  that  poorly-furnished  little  room  after  losing 
enough  of  her  own  money  to  have  had  a  nicely-furnished 
little  home.  When  she  came  we  knelt  in  prayer,  and  she 
thanked  God  that  we  even  had  as  good  as  it  was,  and  said 
she  would  rather  have  that  little  room  with  Jesus  than  a 
nice  home  without  Him.  It  was  a  great  blessing  for  me 
to  see  that  my  wife  was  so  well  contented  under  such  un- 
pleasant conditions. 

Trials  01^  Faith. 

January  and  February  of  the  winter  of  1895  were  very 
severe  months,  characterized  by  heavy  snows  and  hard 
freezes,  which  made  it  a  dreadful  winter  on  the  poor. 
The  Lord  permitted  us  to  go  through  some  very  severe 
testings ;  but  He  blessedly  sustained  us  through  them  all. 

As  I  have  said,  my  wages  were  a  mere  pittance  com- 
pared to  the  amount  requisite  for  comfortable  living. 
Often  the  weather  became  so  extremely  rough  that  I 
could  scarcely  work  at  all.  Many  times,  when  the  morn- 
ing had  come,  we  could  not  see  how  we  would  get 
through  the  day,  and  often  we  got  through  on  but  ten 
or  fifteen  cents.  Several  of  the  families  Hving  in  ad- 
jacent apartments  were  sustained  at  the  city's  expense. 
Wife  and  I  agreed  that  we  would  trust  God,  and  tell  our 
needs  to  none  other,  and  when  it  seemed  that  we  could 
not  possibly  get  through  the  day,  God  would  open  the 
way  for  me  to  earn  twenty-five  or  fifty  cents,  and  thus 


32  IvUCIUS    B.    COMPTON 

our  every  need  was  supplied.  This  winter,  as  students 
in  God's  college  of  adversity,  we  were  taught  many  beau- 
tiful lessons  on  simple  faith,  which,  in  plentiful  circum- 
stances, we  would  not  have  learned ;  so  we  rejoice  to  have 
had  this  experience,  which  helped  us  into  the  deeper 
things  of  God. 

First  Gospel  Labors. 

There  were  about  fifty  families  living  in  the  same 
building  with  us,  and  the  Lord  laid  it  upon  our  hearts  to 
do  missionary  work  among  them.  I  would  go  from  room 
to  room,  holding  services  with  them,  and  God  abundantly 
blessed  in  this  work.  Many  of  these  families  never  at- 
tended any  kind  of  public  worship,  so  the  Word  of  God 
touched  their  hearts,  and  souls  were  saved.  The  devil 
would  often  tempt  me  to  give  up  trying  to  do  any  public 
work  for  Go  1  by  showing  me  my  awkwardness  and  igno- 
rance. I  truly  was  ignorant,  so  much  so  that  often, 
when  I  would  get  up  to  read  the  Scripture  lesson,  some 
one  who  had  a  Bible  would  have  to  pronounce  a  great 
many  words  for  me,  while  the  little  children  would  sit 
about  laughing  at  the  many  mistakes  I  made,  because 
most  of  them  could  have  done  better  themselves. 

The  devil  next  got  a  false  report  out  on  me.  It  was 
told  all  through  the  house  where  I  lived  and  had  been 
laboring  for  the  Lord,  that  I  was  not  married  to  my  wife. 
Some  would  come  to  our  room  and  ask  my  wife  if  we 
were  really  married.  God  overruled  this,  and  defeated 
the  devil,  and,  very  soon  after,  some  one  went  to  the 
janitor  and  asked  him  to  put  us  out  of  the  house.  Their 
complaint  was  that  I  sang  and  shouted  so  much  they  could 
not  rest.  We  were  compelled  to  quit  holding  prayer- 
meetings  in  the  other  rooms,  but  we  continued  them  in 
our  own,  and  God  honored  them.    Bless  His  name ! 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  33 

While  living  here,  our  little  daughter  Marietta  was 
born.  Before  my  wife  had  recovered  so  as  to  help  her- 
self any,  I  had  spent  the  last  cent,  and  there  was  no  place 
in  sight  to  earn  more.  Besides,  there  was  no  one  to  stay 
with  wife  and  baby  while  I  searched  for  something  to 
do.  With  anxious  heart  I  stepped  over  to  the  lounge 
upon  which  my  dear  ones  lay,  and  asked  wife  what  I 
should  do.  She  cheerfully  repHed,  ''Let  us  pray."  I 
shall  never  forget  that  -  morning  as  I  knelt  there,  and, 
with  tears  in  my  eyes,  told  God  that  the  last  cent  was 
gone,  and  no  place  to  get  more.  I  told  Him  that  I 
could  n't  leave  wife  and  baby  alone,  and  the  house-rent 
was  due  next  day,  so,  divested  of  all  human  aid,  I  simply 
trusted  Him  who  said:  ''Be  not  anxious  for  your  life, 
what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink ;  nor  yet  for 
your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not  the  life  more 
than  the  food,  and  the  body  than  the  raiment?  Behold 
the  birds  of  the  heaven,  that  they  sow  not,  neither  do  they 
reap,  nor  gather  into  barns;  and  your  Heavenly  Father 
feedeth  them.  Are  not  ye  of  much  more  value  than  they  ? 
.  .  .  But  seek  ye  first  his  kingdom,  and  his  righteous- 
ness; and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

The  next  morning  came,  and  wife  was  very  weak 
and  I  could  not  leave  her.  My  faith  in  God  to  help  us 
some  way  grew  strong.  The  devil  tempted  me  hard ;  but 
I  walked  the  floor  with  Testament  in  hand,  pleading  the 
promises.  While  thus  engaged,  there  was  a  knock  at 
the  door,  and  the  postman  handed  me  a  letter  which  read 
about  as  follows: 

"Mr.  Compton, — Dear  Friend:  I  am  impressed  that 
you  are  in  need  of  some  money.  If  so,  use  these  five 
dollars ;  and  if  not,  you  can  kindly  return  them. 

"Yours,  etc." 

3 


34  Lucius  B.  Compton 

O,  we  had  a  glorious  shout  in  our  Httle  room,  praising 
God  for  His  direct  answer  to  prayer !  I  fell  on  my  knees, 
and  restated  my  consecration  to  God,  and  gave  our  little 
baby  to  Him  and  His  service.  The  Lord  raised  wife  up 
very  quickly,  and  I  got  to  work  again. 

I  procured  work  in  an  agency  which  took  me  from 
house  to  house.  I  would  talk  little  business,  but  much 
religion.  Sometimes  I  would  take  out  my  Testament  and 
talk  an  hour  about  my  wonderful  Savior.  Some  days  I 
would  not  work  two  hours,  but  spend  the  day  talking  to 
hungry  hearts.  Although  I  knew  almost  nothing  about 
book  learning,  and  had  to  spell  my  way  through  the  New 
Testament,  I  knew  that  in  His  own  time  God  would  let 
me  leave  all  and  go  into  His  work.  In  the  spring  I  was 
offered  a  position  on  the  railroad,  working  for  the  Pull- 
man Palace  Car  Company.  The  wages  were  good,  and 
I  could  have  my  Sundays  to  work  in  the  mission.  I  asked 
the  Lord  to  help  me  do  the  work  right,  and  told  Him  if 
I  could  not  be  true  to  Him  and  hold  the  position  I  would 
give  it  up.  The  man  beside  whom  I  worked  asked  me  if 
I  ever  swore.  I  told  him,  "No;  I  had  been  saved  from 
awful  profanity,  and  now  I  prayed  and  gave  thanks." 
He  did  not  seem  to  think  I  could  keep  true  in  such  bad 
company.  I  realized  that  the  men  were  watching  me 
closely,  and  I  prayed  very  earnestly  for  God  to  give  me 
power  to  be  true  to  Him.  At  noon,  while  the  others  were 
playing  cards  and  throwing  dice,  I  would  spend  the  hour 
reading  my  Testament.  They  would  try  to  get  me  to 
play  with  them,  but  I  would  invite  them  to  listen  to  what 
Jesus  said  in  His  Word.  They  asked  me  if  I  believed 
what  that  Book  said.  I  told  them  that  I  did  not  only 
believe  it,  but  expected  to  obey  every  word  of  it.  In  a  few 
weeks,  instead  of  playing  cards,  the  men  would  gather 
around  me  and  listen  to  the  Word  of  God.    They  learned 


The  Mountain  Evangei^ist.  35 

to  respect  me  as  a  child  of  God,  and  I  induced  some  of 
them  to  go  to  prayer-meeting  with  me,  where  I  would 
testify  how  victoriously  God  was  keeping  me  each  day. 
The  sermons  I  preached  each  day  among  those  men  in 
my  Christian  living  resulted  in  much  good.  God  needs 
preachers  in  the  workshop,  on  the  railroad,  and  on  the 
farm  as  truly  as  in  the  pulpit ;  and  in  many  instances  those 
who  are  preaching  Christ  by  their  daily  lives  are  accom- 
plishing more  real,  vital  good  than  those  behind  the  pul- 
pit, garbed  in  high  collars,  white  neckties,  and  long  coats. 


CHAPTER  V. 

STREET  PREACHING  AND  OTHER  EXPERI- 
ENCES. 

I  ONE  day  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  man  whom  God 
had  saved  from  the  very  depths  of  sin.  He  had  served 
time  in  the  State  "prison  and  city  workhouse.  When  the 
Lord  saved  him  he  returned  to  the  wife  whom  he  had 
deserted  eleven  years  before.  God  miraculously  taught 
him  to  read  the  Bible,  and  made  him  a  powerful  street 
preacher.  He  invited  me  to  attend  a  meeting  he  was  to 
hold  on  Sunday  afternoon  under  the  Court  Street  Market- 
house.  When  I  arrived  Sunday  afternoon,  a  large  crowd 
had  gathered,  and  the  brother  opened  the  service  with 
songs  and  prayer ;  then,  to  my  surprise,  he  announced 
that  there  was  present  a  young  man  from  the  mountains 
of  North  Carolina  who  would  address  them.  I  was 
greatly  embarrassed,  but  tremblingly  stood  before  the 
people,  and  in  my  humble  way  told  them  how  Christ  had 
saved  me  from  sin.  The  Lord  wonderfully  blessed  me 
in  giving  my  testimony,  and  people's  hearts  were  touched. 
A  number  came  forward,  kneeled  before  God,  and  were 
blessedly  saved. 

This  experience  greatly  encouraged  me,  and  gave  me 
a  love  and  burden  for  street-preaching  which  has  never 
left  me.  The  devil  greatly  tried  me  in  this  work.  On 
one  occasion  I  had  an  appointment  to  speak  at  this  same 
place  on  Sunday  afternoon.  The  day  before,  I  had  burst 
one  of  my  shoes  across  the  toe  so  that  the  side  of  my  foot 
was  exposed  to  view.    I  had  been  telling  the  people  how 

36 


The  Mountain  Evange:i.ist.  37 

wonderfully  God  was  supplying  all  of  my  needs,  and  the 
devil  told  me  if  I  went  out  and  preached  with  that  shoe 
on  my  foot,  the  people  would  laugh  at  me  and  say,  "O 
yes ;  look  at  his  foot  outside  his  shoe ;  that 's  the  way  his 
Lord  takes  care  of  him !"  I  searched  in  vain  for  some 
excuse  to  stay  at  home,  but  could  find  none.  I  got  some 
blacking  and  daubed  it  over  the  shoe  and  sock ;  thinking 
that  this  would  look  all  right,  and  hurried  to  the  street 
meeting.  Just  before  I  reached  the  place  where  I  was 
to  speak,  I  looked  down  at  my  shoe,  and,  behold,  in  walk- 
ing, the  sock  had  slipped  from  its  former  position,  and 
part  of  the  white  showed  and  also  part  of  that  daubed 
with  blacking.  I  turned  to  go  back  home,  but  decided 
that  would  never  do.  I  slipped  into  a  large  building  and 
wept  before  God,  and  told  Him  I  would  go  and  tell  of 
His  wonderful  salvation  if  I  had  to  go  barefoot.  With 
Christ's  sweet  presence  in  my  soul  I  went  on,  and  God 
blessed  me  in  helping  me  to  preach  with  greater  liberty 
and  power  than  ever  before.  Precious  souls  knelt  upon 
the  street,  and  prayed  through  to  victory.  The  Lord 
tested  me  Sunday,  and  because  I  obeyed  He  gave  me  a 
new  pair  of  shoes  Monday.     All  praise  to  Him! 

Another  severe  testing  came.  The  weather  turned 
extremely  cold,  and  the  snow  fell  heavily.  Hundreds  of 
the  city's  poor  were  suffering,  and  there  seemed  to  be  five 
men  for  every  job  of  work.  I  searched  far  and  near  for 
work,  but  could  find  none.  The  morning  came  when  wife 
and  little  Marietta  ate  the  last  bite,  and  I  had  none.  This 
was  indeed  a  time  of  last  things.  The  last  cent  was  gone, 
the  last  piece  of  bread  was  gone,  and  the  last  lump  of  coal 
was  upon  the  grate.  We  had  started  to  live  a  life  of 
faith,  and  we  expected  God  to  come  to  our  help.  We 
read  some  of  His  promises,  and  went  to  prayer.  The 
Lord  gave  us  faith  for  our  present  need,  and  we  leaned 


38  Lucius  B.  Compton 

hard  upon  Him.  I  soon  after  started  uptown,  and  as  I 
walked  I  prayed,  and  wept,  and  trusted.  Suddenly  I 
heard  a  call  from  some  one  on  the  street;  but  having  so 
few  acquaintances  in  the,  city,  I  did  not  suppose  I  was 
meant,  so  I  hurried  on,  when  presently  the  call  was  re- 
peated, and  turning  about  I  saw  a  stranger  across  the 
street  motioning  for  me  to  stop.  I  went  over  to  him,  and 
he  said:  "The  Lord  bless  you;  I  have  heard  you  preach 
on  the  streets,  and  the  Lord  told  me  to  give  you  this 
money ;"  and  with  that  he  handed  me  the  money  and  left. 
I  lifted  my  heart  in  thankfulness  to  God,  and  hurried 
homeward  that  I  might  make  wife's  heart  glad  with  the 
good  news.  When  I  arrived  home,  I  noticed  that  there 
was  a  nice  pile  of  coal  under  our  steps.  This  I  could 
not  understand,  and  I  looked  at  the  number  to  see  if  this 
was  really  the  right  place.  I  hurried  up  the  stairs,  and 
asked  wife  where  the  coal  came  from,  and  she  replied 
that  all  she  knew  was  that  some  one  had  sent  it  to  Comp- 
ton's.  What  a  blessed  time  we  had  praising  the  Lord! 
An  hour  before,  no  money,  no  bread,  no  coal,  and  now 
plenty  of  each  for  present  necessities.  Praise  His  name ! 
I  have  over  and  over  thanked  God  for  these  testings. 
How  they  have  enriched  my  soul! 

At  another  time  a  very  courteous,  nicely-dressed  man 
introduced  himself  to  me,  at  one  of  my  street  meetings, 
as  a  Christian  worker.  He  could  hold  the  crowds  nearly 
spellbound  with  his  oratory,  and  completely  won  my  con- 
fidence. He  seemed  to  take  much  interest  in  me,  and 
wanted  me  to  leave  my  position  and  go  into  the  work 
with  him.  He  offered  to  take  my  wife  and  baby  into  his 
home.  Before  I  consented  to  this,  I  went  home  with  the 
man  to  spend  the  night  with  him,  that  we  might  talk  over 
our  plans  together  more  fully.  Before  morning  I  found 
that  I  was  deceived  by  a  smooth-talking  villain  masquer- 


Thi;  Mountain  Evangeust.  '       39 

ading  under  the  name  of  a  Christian  worker.  I  exposed 
him  and  his  sin,  and  praised  God  for  dehvering  me  from 
one  more  snare  of  the  devil.  I  relate  these  incidents 
for  but  one  purpose,  and  that  is  to  magnify  the  keeping 
power  of  the  Lord.  There  I  was,  an  ignorant,  stammer- 
ing mountain  boy,  with  the  allurements  of  a  large  city  all 
around  me,  yet  my  Jesus  kept  me  sweetly  through  it  all, 
and  I  daily  grew  in  grace  and  the  knowledge  of  my 
Savior. 

Love:d  the  Bible:. 

Before  the  Lord  saved  me  the  Bible  was,  of  all  books, 
most  uninteresting;  but  then  it  became  my  only  study. 
How  I  loved  to  pore  over  it  for  hours,  and  meditate  upon 
it  until  duty  led  me  where  I  had  to  leave  it  for  a  time! 
I  thirsted  to  know  all  God's  revealed  will  concerning  me. 
Many  times  my  wife  would  prepare  the  meals  and  call  me 
to  the  table,  but  I  was  so  absorbed  in  my  study  that  I 
would  forget  that  she  had  spoken,  and  long  after  the  rest 
had  eaten,  and  the  table  was  cleared  away,  I  would  arouse 
myself  from  my  Bible  and  find  that  I  had  lost  a  meal. 
Somehow  God  made  the  precious  Word  food  for  both 
soul  and  body.  Often,  while  on  my  knees  with  the  Word 
open  before  me,  I  would  read  a  line  and  ask  myself  if  I 
lived  up  to  that.  Many  times,  when  reading  such  Scrip- 
ture as  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  First  Corinthians,  the 
fifth  chapter  of  First  Thessalonians,  or  the  last  eight 
verses  of  the  third  chapter  of  Ephesians  in  particular,  and 
many  other  Scriptures  in  general,  I  would  feel  that  I 
came  far  short  of  the  privileges  of  the  Gospel,  and  would 
weep  over  this  clearly  evident  fact.  I  was  living  up  to 
all  the  light  I  then  had,  but  at  a  later  period,  which  will 
be  considered  in  its  order,  God  led  me  out  into  a  larger 
place  in  Him,  where  my  tears  were  turned  to  shouts  of 


Ap  Lucius  B.  Compton 

praise  when  contemplating  the  Scriptures  mentioned 
above.  Thank  God,  "if  we  walk  in  the  light  as  He  is  in 
the  light,  .  .  .  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  No  one  ever  backslides  while 
walking  in  the  light  of  God.  Any  light  that  God  gives  a 
soul,  whether  through  the  Word  or  otherwise, ,  is  just  as 
sacred  as  the  Scriptures,  and  consequently  must  be  obeyed, 
or  else  the  sin  of  disobedience  will  cause  God  to  remove 
His  Spirit,  and  spiritual  darkness  will  intervene. 

Last  Secular  Employment. 

I  was  engaged  to  do  Christian  work  in  a  home  that 
was  conducted  as  a  hotel.  Here  the  proprietor,  a  blessed 
Christian  man,  had  public  prayers  conducted  morning, 
noon,  and  night.  In  a  short  time  a  cook  was  needed,  and, 
as  I  had  served  as  railroad  cook,  I  was  prevailed  upon 
to  take  the  position.  This  deprived  me  of  all  opportunity 
to  do  religious  work,  except  as  beggars  would  come  to 
the  kitchen  door  for  something  to  eat,  when  I  would 
preach  Jesus  to  them.  One  day  a  young  boy  came  to  the 
door  for  something  to  eat.  I  took  him  in,  and  talked 
salvation  to  him,  and  from  my  own  experience  showed 
him  the  danger  in  running  away  from  home.  God  touched 
his  heart,  and  he  repented,  and  returned  to  his  country 
home.  He  later  wrote  me  expressing  his  thanks  for  the 
good  advice  I  had  given,  and  for  the  interest  I  had  taken 
in  his  soul. 

Another  time  I  was  standing  in  the  door,  watching  the 
passers  on  the  street,  when  presently  I  heard  some  chil- 
dren howling  and  mocking  some  one  upon  the  street.  I 
looked  carefully  to  see  the  cause  of  the  uproar,  when  a 
girl,  well  dressed,  staggering  from  one  side  to  the  other, 
came  into  view.     I  saw  she  would  soon  fall  into  the 


Thk  Mountain  i2:vANGE:TjsT.  41 

street  and  the  police  would  get  her,  so  I  hastily  got  Mrs. 
Compton,  and  going  out  we  found  her  prostrate  at  our 
comer.  We  took  her  up,  and  carried  her  in,  and  placed 
her  upon  our  bed.  She  did  not  have  the  appearance  of 
a  girl  who  had  spent  her  young  life  in  sin,  and  we  could 
not  detect  the  smell  of  intoxicating  liquor  upon  her  breath, 
so  we  concluded  that  she  must  be  the  victim  of  some 
devilish  conspiracy.  She  lay  there  in  this  unconscious 
state  for  about  ten  hours,  when  she  regained  conscious- 
ness and  told  her  story,  which  was  the  same  old  one  of 
a  human  devil,  called  a  man,  pretending  to  make  love  to 
her,  and  drugging  her  in  order  to  take  sinful  advantage 
of  her  helpless  condition.  She  suspected  his  intentions, 
and  was  making  her  escape  when  we  picked  her  up  from 
the  street.  We  found  a  temporary  home  for  her,  and 
later  she  returned  to  her  own  home. 

When  a  boy  or  girl  leaves  the  old  country  home  to 
take  chances  in  the  city,  they  can  have  no  idea  what  awful 
temptations  and  snares  the  devil  has  set  to  damn  their 
souls  and  take  them  to  hell.  How  many  thousands  of 
virtuous  country  and  village  girls  have  kissed  their 
good  old  fathers  and  mothers  farewell  to  enter  the  city, 
and,  before  many  months,  have  been  wrecked  and  dis- 
graced by  men  and  women  of  superior  cunning!  There 
are  many  proprietors  of  city  brothels  who  have  smooth, 
courteous  men  hired  on  commission  to  lure  simple,  virtu- 
ous girls  into  these  cesspools  of  vice  and  shame. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  I  was  receiving  good  wages 
and  my  family  was  very  comfortable,  I  felt  that  I  must 
give  up  all  and  go  out  upon  the  Master's  work,  or  else 
completely  backslide.  My  hotel  duties  so  completely  took 
my  time  from  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  ten  o'clock 
at  night  that  I  had  no  time  to  study  my  Bible  and  be  alone 
with  God.    Consequently,  I  found  that  evil  tempers  would 


42  Lucius  B.  Compton 

arise,  and  I  would  many  times  do  such  things  as  would 
bring  sorrow  to  my  heart.  Often  I  would  speak  shortly 
or  impatiently  to  my  wife,  and  then  weep  and  ask  her  to 
forgive  me  for  doing  so.  The  Lord  showed  me  that  I 
was  out  of  Divine  order.  He  had  called  me  to  feed  men's 
souls  and  here  I  was  spending  my  time  feeding  their 
stomachs.  These  convictions  deepened  upon  me  until 
I  cried  out  to  God  that  I  would  leave  all  and  follow  Him. 
I  told  Him  He  had  called  me  to  His  work,  and  I  would 
trust  Him  to  pay  all  the  expenses. 

One  day,  while  in  earnest  prayer,  God  gave  me  a  view 
of  the  world  going  at  lightning  velocity  hellward,  and  an 
apostate  ministry  prophesying  ''smooth  things"  and  say- 
ing, "Peace,  peace,"  when  there  was  no  peace.  When  a 
schoolteacher  heard  that  part  of  the  School  Board  be- 
lieved that  the  world  was  flat  and  the  rest  believed  it  was 
round,  in  order  to  get  the  position  she  told  them  she  was 
prepared  to  teach  it  either  way,  just  as  the  majority 
should  decide.  I  could  see  a  hireling  ministry,  prepared 
by  a  skeptical  college  and  theological  training,  preaching 
to  suit  the  carnal  and  worldly  majorities  of  their  congre- 
gations. I  saw  so  little  of  the  real,  humble,  unselfish 
Christlike  living  among  His  professed  followers  that  my 
soul  was  pressed  beyond  measure.  A  still,  small,  sweet, 
and  tender  voice  whispered  in  my  ear  and  said,  ''Will  you 
preach  my  Word  regardless  of  all  opposition  and  perse- 
cution?" I  seemed  to  look  God  right  in  the  face,  and 
replied,  "Yes,  Lord,  by  thy  grace  I.  will." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FIRST  EVANGELISTIC  TOUR. 

I  IMMEDIATELY  moved  my  family  into  a  suburban 
place,  and  arranged  to  start  out  upon  the  battle  for  souls 
in  earnest.  My  wife  wanted  to  know  where  I  was  going. 
I  told  her  I  had  no  idea,  but  to  pack  me  a  change  of 
clothes,  some  tracts,  my  hymn-book  and  Bible,  and  I 
would  trust  in  God  to  lead  me  where  He  wanted  me.  I 
kissed  wife  and  baby  good-bye,  having  no  idea  when  I 
should  see  them  again.  I  can  never  forget  the  emotions 
that  filled  my  heart  that  morning  as  I  tearfully  took  leave 
of  my  loved  ones.  My  wife,  with  little  Marietta  in  her 
arms,  standing  in  the  doorway,  with  trembling  voice, 
said :  "God  bless  you,  papa.  Do  n't  be  uneasy  about  baby 
and  me.  God  will  take  care  of  us."  I  had  not  gone  very 
far  when  I  turned  to  take  a  last  look  at  those  dear  ones, 
and,  as  I  saw  them  still  in  the  doorway,  it  seemed  that  I 
could  go  no  farther ;  the  thought  of  leaving  them  was  too 
much;  but  I  prayed  God  for  strength,  which  He  gave, 
and  I  hurried  on. 

Met  Discouraging  Devils. 

I  soon  met  one  of  my  old  friends  who  wanted  to  know 
what  I  was  about  to  do.  I  related  to  him  the  course  I 
expected  to  take,  and  forthwith  he  endeavored  to  show 
me  what  a  great  mistake  I  was  making.  He  suggested 
that  my  wife  and  child  might  die,  and  I  far  away,  or  else 
something  might  happen  to  me,  and  then  to  be  out  among 
strangers  would  be  a  great  calamity.     Well,  I  had  no 

43 


44  Lucius  B.  Compton 

sooner  gotten  victory  over  these  arguments  when  I  met 
my  pastor,  who  started  on  me  harder  than  my  first  assail- 
ant. He  wanted  to  know  who  was  going  to  support  my 
family.  I  replied  that  the  Lord  v/ould  do  that.  He  said 
that  was  all  presumption,  and  the  Bible  said  that  a  man 
who  would  not  provide  for  his  family  was  worse  than  an 
infidel.  He  wanted  to  know  where  I  was  going.  I  said : 
"I  shall  take  the  steamboat  to-night  and  go  as  far  as  one 
dollar  and  thirty-five  cents  will  carry  me,  and  then  get 
off,  and  ask  the  first  man  I  meet  if  he  is  prepared  to  meet 
God."  The  poor  man  thought  I  had  surely  gone  wild 
over  religion,  and  seemed  to  feel  really  sorry  for  me. 
Again  admonishing  me  to  go  home  to  my  family,  he  left 
me.  I  knew  that  I  was  in  God's  order,  and  all  things 
would  work  together  for  good. 

I  had  walked  about  one  block  from  the  bridge  leading 
over  to  Newport,  Kentucky,  when  some  one  called  to  me. 
Turning,  I  met  a  stranger,  who  was  introduced  as  a 
clergyman  from  Berlin,  Kentucky,  looking  for  some  one 
to  assist  him  in  a  grove  meeting  he  was  conducting  on  his 
charge.  He  said  he  had  failed  to  find  a  helper,  and  I  had 
been  recommended.  After  prayer  I  felt  this  was  God's 
providential  opening,  and  consented  to  go  with  him. 
After  a  long  journey,  twelve  miles  of  which  was  in  a 
carriage,  we  reached  his  home.  The  pastor's  wife,  prob- 
ably thinking  I  was  some  farmer  boy  that  her  husband 
had  given  a  ride,  wanted  to  know  why  he  could  n't  find 
a  helper.  The  pastor  said,  "This  is  Brother  Compton, 
who  is  to  help  us."  She  looked  as  if  all  hope  for  a  meet- 
ing had  gone,  and  treated  me  as  if  I  were  a  passing 
stranger  who  had  begged  for  a  place  to  spend  the  night. 

After  supper  the  pastor  and  I  walked  down  to  the 
place  where  the  services  were  being  held,  and  we  went  up 
on  the  platform.     Shortly  after,  he  was  called  aside  and 


The:  Mountain  Evangeust.  45 

interviewed  in  regard  to  his  help,  and  he  replied  it  was 
the  best  he  could  do.  God  blessed  me  in  telling  my  ex- 
perience, and  many  wept  under  their  convictions.  We 
had  a  gracious  service  the  next  morning,  and  at  night 
the  crowd  greatly  increased,  as  also  did  the  interest.  The 
people  grew  to  appreciate  my  humble  efforts  for  souls, 
and  they  made  up  enough  money  for  me  to  go  to  Cin- 
cinnati and  get  Mrs.  Compton.  I  have  received  many 
offerings  in  these  later  years,  but  never  one  more  appre- 
ciated than  that.  God  gave  us  a  most  glorious  revival. 
The  last  Sunday  they  wanted  to  charge  a  gate  fee,  but 
I  protested.  I  had  never  seen  evidence  that  Jesus  or 
the  apostles  had  done  such  a  thing,  and  I  said  I  would 
stand  on  the  fence  and  talk  to  the  crowd  in  the  road 
before  I  would  agree  to  it. 

At  this  meeting  I  received  two  calls,  and  accepted  one 
to  Harrison  County,  Kentucky.  Preacher  and  people  ad- 
mitted I  had  struck  the  hardest  place  in  the  country. 
Prior  to  my  coming,  there  had  been  a  general  Church 
row,  in  which  the  preacher  had  been  struck  in  the  face. 
I  began  to  preach,  and  the  crowds  increased  right  along, 
but  the  spiritual  interest  was  in  the  bud.  O  such  cold- 
ness I  have  scarcely  ever  encountered!  How  I  wrestled 
and  groaned  before  God  for  the  salvation  of  that  people ! 
I  saw  that  the  Achan  in  the  camp  was  a  woman  who  was 
taking  a  prominent  part  in  the  service.  She  invited  me 
home  to  dinner  one  day,  when  she  freely  told  all  the 
faults  of  the  whole  neighborhood.  She  said  she  had  no 
freedom  in  prayer  when  she  met  with  them  in  service. 
When  I  got  an  opening  I  told  her  that,  from  what  I 
could  see  and  learn  in  regard  to  the  community,  she  was 
the  worst  one  in  it,  and  needed  to  confess  her  sins  and 
repent.  This  made  her  mad,  and  she  refused  to  attend 
any  more  services.     The  morning  of  the  second  Sunday 


46  Lucius  B.  Compton 

I  found  a  place  of  secret  prayer  where  I  prevailed  for 
the  day's  services.  I  told  God  I  would  never  go  down 
to  the  service  until  He  gave  me  a  message.  The  bell 
rang  for  service,  but  I  would  not  go  without  a  special 
message.  I  kept  on  pleading,  when  God  gave  me  Rev.  iii, 
I,  2.  I  had  never  before  preached  a  textual  sermon,  al- 
ways giving  my  experience  and  exhorting  others  to  seek 
Him  who  had  done  so  much  for  me.  The  house  was 
packed,  and  many  opposers  were  there,  including  the 
woman  I  had  left  mad  in  her  home  a  few  days  before. 
I  read  my  text,  and  as  I  did  so  it  seemed  that  a  legion 
of  angels  came  down  to  help  me  preach  from  it.  From 
the  first  hearts  were  broken  and  began  to  cry  out  to  God. 
The  husband  of  the  woman  I  had  rebuked  arose  to  his 
feet,  and  interrupted  me  by  crying  in  a  loud  voice  that 
they  were  all  condemned  and  had  no  time  for  preaching, 
but  for  all  to  pray.  The  altar  was  packed ;  people  began 
confessing  their  sins,  and  a  revival  from  the  skies  came 
upon  us  that  spread  for  miles.  All  through  the  power 
of  prevailing  prayer ! 

Some  time  later  I  went  to  a  place  to  conduct  serv- 
ices, and  met  with  fearful  opposition.  A  man  of  great 
influence  did  all  he  could  to  break  up  the  meeting.  He 
lived  close  to  the  church,  but  refused  to  let  any  of  his 
family  attend.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  have  dances 
at  his  home  to  entice  the  young  people  from  the  services. 
The  saints  prayed  earnestly,  but  could  get  no  faith  for 
his  salvation.  The  meeting  closed,  and  in  less  than  a 
week  later  that  man  was  in  eternity.  When  on  his  death- 
bed he  called  for  me  to  pray  for  him.  I  lifted  up  my 
voice  to  God,  but  my  words  would  seem  to  fall  back 
upon  my  heart  with  a  thud,  and  the  last  words  he  was 
heard  to  utter  were,  "I  am  lost,  I  am  lost!"    I  was  asked 


The:  Mountain  Evangelist.  47 

to  take  the  funeral  service,  and  as  I  went  to  the  mansion 
the  oldest  son  met  me  at  the  door,  and  asked  me  to  pray 
that  he  might  never  live  the  life  his  father  had  lived. 
I  have  seen  many  sad  homes,  but  the  bereavement  of 
this  was  greater  than  can  be  described.  The  house  was 
filled  with  ungodly  friends,  who  were  trying  to  comfort 
the  family.  I  asked  God  to  give  me  a  judgment-day 
message,  and  I  preached  damnation  and  eternal  hellfire 
just  as  I  thought  the  rich  man  in  hell  wanted  Lazarus 
to  preach  to  his  five  brethren. 

A  Sinle:ss  Religion. 

As  I  intended  staying  in  this  part  of  Kentucky  to  make 
a   very   thorough   evangelistic   convass,    I    sent   for   my 
Church  letter,  which  was  held  by  the  Baptist  Church 
of  Clyde,  North  Carolina.     It  was  granted,  and  I  pre- 
sented it  to  the  Baptists  of  Kentucky,  but  they  refused 
it  on  the  ground  that  I  placed  the  standard  of  Chris- 
tianity too  high.     They  said  that  I  preached  a  sinless 
religion.    I  did  not  deny  it,  because  I  always  taught  that 
a  man  must  be  saved  from  all  sin  or  be  lost  in  hell,  ac- 
cording to  I  John  i,  7,  and  scores  of  other  Scriptures. 
From  this  time  opposition  greatly  increased,  and  most 
of  the  Baptist  Churches  were  closed  against  me.     My 
preaching  was  generally  done  in  groves,   schoolhouses, 
private  homes,  and  on  street-corners  with  a  goods-box 
for  a  pulpit.     I  often  walked  twenty  and  thirty  miles 
to  an  appointment,  until  one  day  the  Lord  laid  it  upon 
the  heart  of  a  man  to  give  me  a  pony,  cart,  and  harness, 
and  another  man  gave  me  a  load  of  corn.     The  dear 
Lord  so  bountifully  supplied  all  our  needs  that  we  were 
able  to  help  poor  famiHes  out  of  our  abundance.     In  all 


48  Lucius  B.  Compton 

of  my  experience  as  a  traveling  evangelist  from  State 
to  State  I  have  never  taken  up  a  collection  for  my  sup- 
port, nor  asked  another  person  to  take  up  one  for  me. 
I  could  always  trust  the  God  who  called  me  into  His 
service  to  supply  all  my  needs.  One  of  the  most  puz- 
zling things  to  me  is,  how  evangelists  can  write  to  a 
people  who  are  hungry  to  hear  the  truth  that  they  will 
come  for  expenses  and  so  much.  It  seems  to  me  that  an 
evangelist  who  has  no  faith  for  his  expenses  couldn't 
have  much  for  souls. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
SANCTIFICATION. 

Walk  in  the  light  the  Lord  hath  given 

To  guide  thy  steps  aright; 
His  Holy  Spirit  sent  from  heaven, 

Can  cheer  the  darkest  night. 

Walk  in  the  light  of  gospel  truth, 
That  shines  from  God's  own  Word; 

A  light  to  guide  in  early  youth, 
The  faithful  of  the  Lord. 

Walk  in  the  light,  tho'  shadows  dark, 

Like  specters  cross  thy  way ; 
Darkness  will  flee  before  the  light 

Of  God's  eternal  day. 

Walk  in  the  light,  and  thou  shalt  know 

The  love  of  God  to  thee; 
The  fellowship,  so  sweet  below, 

In  heaven  will  sweeter  be. 

From  the  happy  day  that  Jesus  had  so  clearly  re- 
claimed me  from  those  dark  years  of  backsliding  I  had 
endeavored  to  walk  in  the  light  the  Lord  had  shed 
across  my  pathway.  I  had  lived  a  consecrated  life  be- 
fore God  and  the  world.  That  I  was  a  child  of  God  I 
could  not  doubt,  because  the  witness  of  God's  Spirit 
shone  clear  and  bright  in  my  soul ;  but  I  found  there 
was  a  principle  in  my  life  that  often  caused  me  to  do 
the  thing  I  did  not  want  to  do,  and  leave  undone  the 
thing  I  wanted  to  do.  In  one  of  my  meetings,  where 
God  came  down  'in  great  power  and  gave  a  glorious 
revival,  I  preached  myself  under  conviction.  I  found 
4  49 


50  Lucius  B.  Compton 

within  me  tendencies  which  were  not  ChristUke;  for 
example,  impatience,  fretting,  pride  which  at  times 
caused  a  desire  that  folks  should  brag  on  me  a  little, 
light  talk,  and  a  tendency  to  easily  get  the  blues.  Then, 
too,  although  God  was  blessing  my  efforts  and  giving 
me  souls,  I  felt  a  great  lack  of  the  real  spiritual  power 
which  I  read  that  the  disciples  received  at  Pentecost  and 
Peter  declared  was  for  us  all.  I  had  been  taught  by  my 
Baptist  Church  that  the  heart  was  made  pure  in  regenera- 
tion, and  that  sin  still  dwelt  in  the  flesh;  but  God  gave 
me  wisdom  to  know  better.  I  learned  that  sin  did  not 
emanate  from  or  exist  in  flesh  and  bone,  and  that  flesh 
and  bone  could  have  no  power  to  commit  sin  without  the 
consent  of  the  man  himself;  and  I  reasoned  that  if  the 
man  himself  got  rid  of  sin,  then  the  flesh  and  bone  would 
be  holy  and  pure  as  well  as  the  heart.  Paul  prayed  that 
our  "whole  body,  soul,  and  spirit  be  preserved  blameless," 
and  again  commanded  us  to  "present  our  bodies  a  living 
sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable;"  and  still  again,  that  "our 
bodies  were  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  should 
not  be  defiled,  but  must  be  holy."  Then  Jesus  Himself 
clinched  the  argument  in  Mark  vii,  21-23,  by  saying, 
"For  from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  man  [not  out 
of  his  flesh]  proceed  evil  thoughts,  adulteries,  fornica- 
tions, murders,  thefts,  covetousness,  wickedness,  deceit, 
lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blasphemy,  pride,  foolish- 
ness: all  these  evil  things  come  from  within  and  defile 
the  man."  I  was  taught  that  the  best  God  could  or 
would  do  for  His  children  was  to  give  them  a  seventh-of- 
Romans  experience  where  the  "body  of  sin"  lived,  and 
generally  had  its  way.  I  found  that  Paul  testified  in 
the  next  chapter  that  "the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  had  made  him  free  from  this  law  of  sin  and 
death"  that  had  given  him  so  much  trouble  in  his  re- 


The  Mountain  Evangeusip.  51 

generated  experience,  as  recorded  in  the  seventh  of 
Romans. 

I  began  to  see  now  that  there  was  a  "balm  in  Gilead" 
for  all  of  my  troubles.  The  Word  declared  that  Christ's 
mission  was  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil.  All  sin 
is  alone  the  devil's  work,  and  so,  until  a  person  is  freed 
from  every  iota  of  sin,  Christ's  uttermost  salvation  has 
not  been  realized  in  the  life.  I  was  not  satisfied  with  a 
head  full  of  theory,  even  though  it  was  logical  and  Bib- 
lical. To  know  gave  me  a  burning  desire  to  experience. 
The  world  is  full  of  head  religion,  but  real  heartfelt  ex- 
perience is  a  rare  jewel.  Thousands  of  people  come  to 
my  meetings,  and  nod  their  assent  to  my  preaching,  and 
say  "Brother  Compton,  I  agree  with  you,"  yet  they  go 
on  with  apparent  unconcern  as  to  seeking  and  experienc- 
ing what  they  see  is  their  privilege.  God  help  them  to 
see  that,  after  having  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  the  neg- 
lecting or  refusing  to  receive  it  as  their  personal  expe- 
rience will  make  for  them  the  greater  damnation!  Be- 
loved, as  you  read  this  book,  I  beseech  you,  be  not  only 
hearers  of  the  truth,  but  doers  of  it. 

I  became  acquainted  with  Evangelist  C.  W.  Clark, 
a  man  of  power,  whom  God  was  greatly  using,  and  we 
labored  together  for  some  time.  Brother  Clark  urged  all 
believers  to  seek  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  While 
with  this  brother  the  precious  little  book  called  the 
"Double  Cure,"  by  M.  W.  Knapp,  who  has  since  been 
translated  to  glory,  was  placed  in  my  hands.  I  read 
it  with  great  interest.  I  had  been  taught  that  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  suppressed  the  Old  Man  of 
inbred  sin,  while  the  "Double  Cure"  clearly  revealed  that 
the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  expressed  the  Old  Man 
of  sin,  purifying  the  heart  and  empowering  for  service.- 
I  also  found  that  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 


52  Lucius  B.  Compton 

the  experience  of  entire  sanctification,  and  a  life  of  holi- 
ness were  synonymous  terms  in  the  sense  that,  when  a 
person  had  one  of  them,  he  had  all  of  them.  The  Holy 
Ghost  comes  and  purifies  our  hearts,  giving  us  the  ex- 
perience of  sanctification,  which  causes  us  to  live  a  life 
of  holiness.  This  intelligence  took  away  any  prejudice 
I  might  have  had  against  the  words,  so  much  hated, 
^'holiness"  and  ''sanctification."  Most  persons  will  listen 
to  a  sermon  on  the  ''Baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  who 
would  run  from  any  consideration  of  "holiness"  or  "sanc- 
tification." 

I  became  as  deeply  convicted  for  a  pure  heart  as  I 
had  for  the  pardon  of  my  sins.  As  I  studied  and  con- 
templated the  meekness,  humility,  and  longsuifering  of 
Christ,  and  read  how  Peter  said  He  was  our  example 
and  we  should  follow  in  His  steps,  and  then  compared 
my  life  to  His,  the  more  deeply  conscious  I  was  of  the 
impurity  and  imperfection  of  my  own  heart.  The  reason 
why  so  many  people  do  not  see  the  sin-principle  of  their 
own  hearts  is  because  they  never  draw  close  enough  to 
the  Lord  to  let  Him  reveal  it.  When  Isaiah  got  so  close 
to  God  that  he  could  see  the  seraphim,  and  hear  them  cry, 
"Holy,  holy,  holy!"  then  it  was  he  saw  his  uncleanness, 
and  God  sent  a  seraph  with  a  live  coal  from  off  the 
altar  and  purged  or  sanctified  (each  word  means  the 
same)  him  from  his  uncleanness. 

In  the  she  summer  of  1899  I  most  providentially 
found  myself  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  opening  day 
of  the  Salvation  Park  Camp-meeting,  which  was  then  held 
at  Carthage.  I  had  no  thought  of  being  able  to  attend 
the  entire  meeting,  because  I  was  not  financially  able, 
but  concluded  to  go  to  the  grounds  and  hear  the  first 
services.  The  camp-ground  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  spot 
where  all  heaven  had  come  down  to  spend  a  few  days, 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  53 

and,  as  I  walked  about,  the  tears  would  course  down  my 
faqe  and  fall  to  the  ground.  I  felt  it  would  be  an  honor 
to  hold  any  position,  however  humble,  about  that  sacred 
place.  I  would  gladly  have  blacked  the  preachers'  boots 
for  the  privilege  of  spending  a  week  under  their  preach- 
ing. Rev.  Seth  C.  Rees  preached  that  morning,  and  with 
wide-open  mouth  I  sat  and  swallowed  the  old  corn  and 
grapes  and  honey  that  he  was  dealing  out  to  the  crowd, 
fresh  from  the  rich  fields  of  Canaan  land. 

As  I  started  for  home  that  night  I  began  earnestly 
to  pray  God  to  open  up  the  way  for  wife  and  myself  to 
attend  the  entire  camp-meeting.  When  I  got  home,  Mrs. 
Compton  told  me  the  Lord  had  sent  in  four  dollars,  so 
we  concluded  to  go  out  to  Carthage  and  stay  as  long  as 
our  money  lasted.  By  living  on  dry  bread  and  raw 
canned  tomatoes,  we  were  able  to  stay  several  days.  God 
here  turned  on  such  clear  light  that  I  saw  my  need  of 
entire  sanctification  as  a  definite  experience,  and,  deeply 
convicted  of  my  need,  I  began  earnestly  to  seek.  The 
time  came  when  we  could  no  longer  stay  at  the  camp, 
so  I  sent  Mrs.  Compton  home  in  a  private  conveyance, 
and  started  to  walk  the  eighteen  miles  to  our  home.  I 
determined  to  get  the  experience  before  I  got  home,  or 
know  the  reason  why.  About  seven  miles  from  home  I 
found  a  spot  where  I  could  be  alone  with  God,  and 
there,  in  the  silence,  broken  only  by  the  chirping  of  in- 
sects or  the  rustling  of  the  leaves  overhead,  I  looked 
heavenward,  and  told  God  to  show  me  my  worst  con- 
dition as  He  alone  knew  it.*  I  pleaded  in  intense  earnest- 
ness ;  I  was  not  simply  trying  to  see  if  there  was  any- 
thing in  it  after  all,  but  I  believed  in  it,  and  wanted  it 
more  than  anything  else  on  earth  or  in  heaven.  I  knew 
I  was  seeking  for  something  without  which  I  could  never 
see  God.    I  needed  no  altar-worker  to  coax  me  to  hold 


54  Lucius  B.  Compton 

up  my  hands  and  head  and  pray.  Like  a  drowning  man, 
I  grasped  at  every  suggestion  that  had  the  sUghetst  hope 
in  it.  Without  hesitancy,  as  God  revealed  to  me  what  I 
might  expect  and  much  of  what  it  meant,  I  would  put  it 
upon  the  altar.  I  could  see  myself,  with  my  earthly 
possessions  tied  together  in  a  red  handkerchief,  walking 
about  the  country,  the  target  for  sneers  and  reproach.  I 
imagined  I  could  hear  the  people  say,  "There  he  goes; 
that 's  the  sanctified  fellow."  But  I  kept  on  saying,  "Yes, 
Lord,  anything,  everything;  only  give  me  this  blessed 
experience."  I  somehow  had  the  witness  in  myself  that 
I  was  fully  consecrated  to  God  for  any  world  or  any  work, 
to  be  something  or  be  nothing.  I  felt  that  God  was 
crowded  into  a  corner,  and  could  not  and  would  not 
get  out  without  verifying  His  promises  in  me.  I  said, 
"Lord,  I  beheve  Thou  doest  sanctify  me  just  now!  just 
now  ! !  just  now  ! ! !"  Then  the  glory  of  heaven  flooded 
my  soul,  and  it  seemed  that  Holy  Ghost  fire  was  purging 
my  heart  from  every  root  and  stain  of  sin,  and  I  was 
made  clean  and  pure  in  heart.  The  Lord  Himself  did 
it  all!  Glory!  Hallelujah  to  His  precious  name!  He 
did  exceeding  abundantly  above  anything  I  could  ever 
think  or  expect,  and  it  was  so  little  for  the  Lord  that 
heaven  never  missed  what  fell  into  my  soul.  Beloved 
reader,  have  you  a  little  hope-so,  think-so,  maybe-so  ex- 
perience that  you  are  somehow,  in  some  miraculous  way, 
thinking  will  just  squeeze  you  through  at  the  judgment? 
Let  me  recommend  to  you  an  uttermost  salvation  that  will 
exterminate  all  sin,  and  make  you  as  sure  of  heaven, 
if  you  do  not  backslide,  as  though  you  had  already  been 
within  the  pearly  gates  and  spent  a  week  with  the  angels 
in  the  New  Jerusalem.  Never  limit  the  power  of  our 
omnipotent  Savior;  never  eat,  drink,  or  sleep  until  Christ 
has  done  for  you  what  He  died  to  do;  i.  e.,  destroyed  all 


The;  Mountain  Evangelist.  55 

sin,  actual  and  inbred,  which  is  the  work  of  the  devil. 
*'If  we  confess  our  sins  He  is  faithful  and  just  to  for- 
give us  our  sins,"  and  not  only  that,  which  means  sal- 
vation, but  to  come  the  second  time  and  "cleanse  you 
from  all  unrighteousness ;"  i.  e.,  all  unrighteousness  is 
sin,  and  He  will  sanctify  you  from  all  sin,  remaining  in 
your  heart  subsequent  to  your  forgiveness. 

The  more  I  praised  God,  the  brighter  He  revealed 
Himself  in  me,  and  the  remainder  of  those  eighteen 
miles  I  had  .  three  companions, — God  the  Father,  God 
the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  was  the  most 
glorious  night  in  all  my  life  up  to  that  time;  but  from 
that  day  the  way  has  grown  brighter  and  brighter,  and 
I  can  say,  in  the  language  of  Micah  the  prophet,  "But 
truly  I  am  full  of  power  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord." 

"  Golden  sunbeams  round  me  play, 
Jesus  turns  my  night  to  day; 
Heaven  seems  not  far  away, 
Since  I  found  my  Savior." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
BACK   TO   WESTERN   NORTH   CAROLINA. 

Shortly  after  God  gave  me  the  precious  experience 
of  entire  sanctification,  as  related  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, He  laid  upon  my  heart  a  heavy  burden  for  my  own 
native  people  in  the  mountain  country  of  North  Carolina, 
where  I  was  born  and  where  I  spent  my  early  youth.  I 
knew  that  very  few,  if  any,  had  ever  heard  of  holiness 
as  a  definite,  obtainable  experience,  although  many  were 
saved  and  enjoying  a  justified  experience.  I  felt  that 
the  Lord  wanted  me  to  go  to  them  as  Paul  did  to  the 
Ephesians,  saying,  ''Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost 
since  ye  believed?" 

Although  God's  call  to  North  Carolina  was  clear, 
I  did  not  immediately  go,  but  labored  for  many  months 
in  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  where  God  gave  me  scores  of  con- 
versions and  sanctifications.  The  annual  Salvation  Park 
Camp-meeting  found  me  near  Cincinnati,  thus  making  it 
very  convenient  for  me  to  attend.  The  camp,  one  year 
before,  had  proven  such  a  blessing  to  me  that  I  wanted 
everybody  I  knew  to  attend  this  one.  Accordingly,  I 
engaged  four  tents,  and,  driving  about  with  my  horse 
and  wagon,  gathered  up  a  load  of  eleven  grovv'n  folks 
and  some  children,  and  filled  the  tents.  In  many  ways 
I  was  well  repaid  for  all  the  sacrifice  I  had  made  in 
getting  to  this  camp,  but  especially  because  my  only  child, 
little  Marietta,  but  five  years  old,  was  clearly  converted 
to  God.  She  had  been  in  a  children's  meeting  conducted 
by  Mrs.  M.  W.   Knapp,  where  the  simple  message  of 

56 


The  Mountain  Evangei^ist.  57 

the  Savior's  love  touched  her  heart.  She  knelt  at  the 
altar,  and,  in  a  childlike  way,  asked  Jesus  to  save  her. 
She  quickly  jumped  up  from  the  altar,  and  ran  to  her 
mamma  and  me,  shouting  happily  that  Jesus  had  saved 
her!  Truly  Jesus  had  come  into  her  young  heart,  be- 
cause her  face  shone  with  heaven's  own  light.  When  we 
got  back  home,  she  let  her  light  shine  by  telling  her 
playmates  what  Jesus  had  done  for  her.  One  time  she 
came  into  the  house,  and  told  her  mamma  that  she 
could  n't  play  with  the  children  because  they  used  bad 
words.  How  many  parents  make  the  mistake  of  think- 
ing that  their  children  are  too  young  to  get  saved  at  five 
or  six  years  of  age,  and  thus  let  the  devil  get  their 
young  hearts  and  minds  poisoned  by  sin,  and  estranged 
from  Christ!  Many  of  the  brightest  Christian  men  and 
women  of  all  ages  have  been  those  converted  in  early 
childhood. 

After  the  camp-meeting  we  bade  farewell  to  the  North, 
with  all  that  it  held  dear  to  us,  and,  with  horse  and  buggy, 
which  God  had  sent  in  answer  to  prayer,  Mrs.  Compton, 
Marietta,  and  I  started  on  our  long  trip.  Many  pre- 
dicted the  impossibility  of  our  getting  to  North  Carolina 
thus  equipped,  but  we  knew  God  was  able.  The  weather 
was  delightful,  and  little  difficulty  was  encountered  until 
we  arrived  at  the  foot  of  Hatton  Creek  Mountain  in 
Kentucky.  As  we  gazed  towards  its  lofty  summit  and 
up  its  rugged  sides,  it  looked  as  if  we  had  met  our 
Waterloo  at  last.  To  get  around  that  mountain  without 
going  over  it  meant  twenty  miles  of  travel,  while  scaling 
It  meant  but  about  two  miles.  We  looked  to  God  in 
prayer.  I  applied  carriage-oil  to  the  wheels,  while  God 
applied  the  oil  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  our  souls.  The 
carriage-oil  enabled  the  horse  and  buggy  to  scale  the 
bowlders  with  greater  ease,  while  the  Holy  Ghost  oil 


58  Lucius  B.  Compton 

enabled  us  to  keep  sweet  in  our  souls  during  the  jour-        x^, 
iiey.    With  the  aid  of  Mrs.  Compton  blocking  the  wheels 
at  short  intervals,  and  all  of  us  exercising  much  patience 
and  longsuffering,  in  three  hours  the  lofty  mountain  was 
left  in  our  rear. 

During  our  journey,  which  took  about  fifteen  days, 
we  had  many  opportunities  of  doing  something  for  the 
Lord.  Sometimes  I  would  preach  in  churches  or  court- 
houses. God  made  the  trip  profitable  to  us,  and  made  us 
a  blessing  to  others.  We  at  last  arrived  in  North  Caro- 
lina, feeling  as  well  and  refreshed  in  body,  soul,  and 
spirit  as  when  we  started. 

Nearly  ten  years  before,  I  had  left  Clyde,  North 
Carolina,  a  very  wicked  boy.  Now  that  the  Lord  had 
saved  and  sanctified  my  soul,  I  had  a  great  desire  to 
return  to  the  home  of  my  early  youth.  1  wanted  once 
more  to  enter  the  little,  humble  log-cabin,  and,  bowing 
upon  the  rough  slab  floor,  thank  God  for  delivering  me 
from  the  devil's  clutches  which  had  held  me  so  firmly 
when  last  I  sat  beneath  the  paternal  roof. 

When  Mrs.  Compton  and  I  testified,  in  Clyde,  to 
God's  sanctifying  power,  it  very  soon  became  the  sub- 
ject of  town  talk.  The  Methodists  were  having  a  meet- 
ing in  the  town,  and  one  day  one  of  the  brethren  invited 
me  to  preach.  Out  of  curiosity  to  hear  the  reformed 
"bad  boy  of  the  town"  preach,  many  were  in  attendance. 
The  Lord  helping,  I  did  the  best  I  could  in  giving  a 
simple  gospel  message.  I  preached  that  Jesus  not  only 
died  to  justify  us  freely,  but  also  to  sanctify  us  wholly. 
This  stirred  up  a  great  opposition,  and  many  would  call 
on  me  at  my  father's  cabin  and  endeavor  to  reason  me 
out  of  the  so-called  delusion  that  any  one  could  be  sanc- 
tified and  live  without  sin  in  this  world.    They  often  tried 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  59 

to  quote  Scripture  to  me  in  defense  of  their  position ;  for 
example,  they  would  get  i  John  i,  8,  mixed  up  this  way : 
"If  we  say  we  live  and  do  not  commit  sin,  we  lie  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  us."  When  I  asked  them  to  find  me 
such  Scripture,  they  searched  in  great  assurance,  but  soon 
found  that  the  Bible  said  no  such  thing.  My  preaching 
from  the  first  was  misconstructed  and  misrepresented. 
Many  good,  well-meaning  people  have  been  so  preju- 
diced against  me  that  they  would  not  even  come  to  hear 
me  preach,  and  at  the  same  time  they  would  contend  that 
the  work  and  doctrine  was  that  of  the  devil.  May  God 
bless  them  by  leading  them  into  this  light  as  He  has  me ! 
I  love  them,  and  would  be  glad  to  go  into  their  churches, 
and  pray,  and  weep,  and  labor  for  their  salvation.  Nearly 
all  their  churches  have  closed  against  me,  and  my  preach- 
ing is  done  in  schoolhouses,  tents,  and  arbors.  The  op- 
position I  have  encountered,  however,  has  proved  the 
greatest  possible  blessing  to  me,  and  the  Lord's  work 
of  full  salvation.  The  people,  hearing  so  much  talk 
against  my  work,  would  be  impelled,  through  curiosity, 
to  attend  and  learn  for  themselves,  and  the  arrow  of 
conviction  would  be  driven  into  their  hearts,  and  they 
would  seek  and  obtain  the  blessing.     Glory! 

One  preacher  has  evidently  felt  that,  if  he  could  poison 
the  people  against  sanctification  and  its  humble  exponent, 
he  would  be  doing  God  and  humanity  a  great  service. 
To  show  how  God  will  use  the  devil  to  be  a  blessing 
to  His  children,  I  wish  to  submit  a  couple  of  letters 
which  he  has  published  against  me  in  an  official  organ 
of  his  Church.  I  want  to  say  that  I  truly  believe  that 
nothing  has  proved  such  a  blessing  to  me  and  the  work 
as  this  man  and  his  letters,  although  they  do  seem  to 
be  a  diabolical  scheme  of  Satan  to  frustrate  God's  work. 


6o  Lucius  B.  Compton 

Many  having  read  the  articles,  and  knowing  how  false 
much  of  them  were,  dropped  the  paper  in  which  they 
were  published  and  have  since  been  my  stanch  friends. 

"Editors  Southe;rn  Baptist, — I  guess  it  is  about 
time  for  me  to  write  again.  Somebody  might  think  I 
was  going  to  Cincinnati  with  that  great  evangelist, 
Compton,  who  thought  himself  all  the  apostolic  preacher 
of  this  country,  and  that  there  was  not  a  Church  in  this 
country  that  was  fit  to  take  members  into  its  fellowship, 
especially  the  Church  at  Clyde, — this  preacher,  who  ran 
most  of  the  people  of  Newfound  crazy,  or  a  great  many 
of  them,  after  his  doctrine  and  heresy,  and  stood  people 
on  top  of  their  heads  when  he  baptized  them,  and  turned 
them  loose  to  root  pig  or  die.  I  hope  the  good  Lord 
will  keep  him  in  Cincinnati,  or  in  some  other  region,  for 
we   do  n't   need   him   in   this   country.     I   am   just   like 

Brother  L.  P.  .     I  Ve  not  got  any  use  for  him ;  he 

is  a  deceiver.  Sanctification  and  holiness  of  life  is  a 
mighty  nice  thing,  but  I  have  lived  fifty  years,  and  have 
never  seen  a  sanctified  person  yet.  Of  course,  we  must 
bring  the  flesh  into  subjection  to  the  spirit,  and  yet  the 
warfare  goes  on.  Paul,  it  seemed,  was  more  sanctified 
before  his  conversion  than  after;  for,  before,  he  verily 
thought  he  was  doing  God's  service  in  persecuting  the 
saints.    I  think  we  ought  to  be  mighty  careful  whom  we 

take  after ;  we  might  take  up  with  an  E ,  who  was  so 

slick  he  got  off  with  a  good  horse  and  a  watch,  saddle, 

and  overcoat ;  or  an  S ,  who  will  seduce  some  man's 

wife  or  daughter,  or,  as  Paul  says,  Xead  captive  silly 
folks  who  know  not  the  truth.'  I  think  some  of  the  New- 
found folks  got  their  eyes  open  before  Compton  left, 
especially  some  of  the  Methodist  folks,  when  he  began 


The;  Mountain  Evangeust  6i 

to  lead  off  their  children  and  others,  who  said,  when 
their  children  wanted  to  be  baptized,  hunt  a  secluded 
place.  Yours  in  love,  J.  M.  H." 

A  copy  of  the  second  letter  to  the  same  paper,  from 
beautiful  Haywood: 

"Dear  Southern  Baptist, — We  have  had  plenty  of 
winter  in  Haywood,  so  that  the  pastors  have  not  been 
able  to  fill  their  regular  appointments,  except  the  Evan- 
gelist Compton.  He  goes,  rain  or  shine,  like  a  dog  with- 
out a  home  or  master,  imposing  himself  upon  people,  and 
going  into  churches  that  have  before  locked  him  out, 
even  going  into  churches  without  the  knowledge  or  con- 
sent of  the  pastors,  and  is  ordered  out  on  account  of  his 
unchristianizing  other  Christians,  and  his  heresy.  Years 
ago,  when  L.  B.  Compton  was  fifteen  years  old,  he  pro- 
fessed faith  in  Christ  at  Clyde,  but  became  unwilling  to 
be  governed  by  his  parents,  and  ran  away  from  home, 
and  went  on  to  public  works,  and  from  one  mean  thing 
to  another;  and  the  Church,  to  protect  herself,  was  com- 
pelled to  withdraw  fellowship  from  him.  He  landed  in 
Ohio  or  Kentucky,  and  in  a  meeting  claimed  to  be  re- 
claimed, and  wrote  back  to  his  father,  asking  to  be  re- 
stored to  membership  in  the  Church,  and  the  Pleasant 
Hill  Church  at  Clyde  restored  him,  and  granted  him  a 
letter  in  good  standing;  which  was  all  right,  but  they 
did  not  know  it  all,  but  when  he  presented  himself  for 
membership  in  a  Baptist  Church  in  Ohio,  they,  knowing 
more  about  him  than  we,  rejected  him  and  his  heresy. 
He  no  doubt  passed  himself  for  a  Baptist  preacher  until 
last  January,  when,  in  Church  Conference,  the  writer 
preferred  a  charge  against  him,  and  he  was  excluded, 


62  Lucius  B.  Compton 

for  heresy,  and  asked  for  the  return  of  the  letter.     Now 
he  goes  about  Hke  the  heretics,  putting  up  a  plea  of  per- 
secution.    I  warn  all  the  Churches  of  him,  for  he  will 
cause  division  and  trouble.     This  will  do.     J.  M.  H. 
"Clyde,  N.  C." 

Any  one  can  see,  from  the  spirit  in  which  these  let- 
ters are  written,  the  object  of  them.  But  they  were  used 
to  move  on  the  work  of  God.  I  want  to  say  here,  as  I 
will  meet  this  at  the  judgment,  that  I  love  the  dear  man 
who  wrote  these  epistles.  He  is  but  one  out  of  the 
thousands  of  preachers  who  are  against  the  whole  truth 
of  the  Bible.  The  heresy  referred  to  is  the  Bible  doc- 
trine of  sanctification.  I  was  turned  out  of  the  Baptist 
Church  for  teaching  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanseth 
from  all  sin,  according  to  i  John  i,  8,  and  scores  of  other 
Scriptures.  Those  who  turned  me  out  are  strong  expo- 
nents of  a  sinning  religion,  and  they  are  well  known  to 
practice  what  they  preach.  I  speak  with  authority,  be- 
cause I  have  lived  among  them.  This  man  has  lived  fifty 
years,  and  has  never  seen  a  sanctified  person,  according 
to  his  statement.  This  might  be  true, — there  is  such  a 
thing  as  looking  at  the  sun  so  long  that  whenever  one 
looks  he  will  see  nothing  but  suns.  How  many  have 
gazed  upon  things  carnal  and  sectarian  so  long  that  their 
vision  has  become  impaired,  and  they  can  see  nothing 
better !  The  Jewish  Church  was  so  backslidden  that  they 
could  see  nothing  in  Jesus  but  a  devil. 

Such  opposition  as  this  so  stirred  my  father  that  he 
began  diligently  to  search  the  Scriptures,  and  soon  find- 
ing that  the  experiences  his  baby  boy  was  preaching  was 
the  gospel  truth,  he  fell  down  at  the  altar  of  his  own 
Church  at  Laurens,  South  Carolina,  and  sought  the  bless- 
ing.    He  stood  before  his  congregation  and  confessed 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  63 

that  the  prejudice  he  had  in  his  heart  for  his  Church 
had  bHnded  his  eyes  against  seeing  God's  will.  How 
many  preachers,  if  honest,  could  and  would  confess  the 
same  thing! 

My  Baptist  brethren  who  brand  my  teaching  as  heresy 
fail  to  see  that,  by  so  doing,  they  brand  many  of  the 
greatest  lights  of  their  Church  as  heretics.  For  example, 
I  desire  to  quote  a  few  from  the  many  statements  of  Dr. 
A.  J.  Gordon,  the  great  commentator  of  their  Church. 

He  says:  ''The  Scriptures  seem  to  teach  that  there 
is  a  second  stage  in  spiritual  development  distinct  and 
separate  from  conversion;  a  stage  to  which  we  rise  by 
a  special  renewal  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  not  by  the 
process  of  a  gradual  growth."  Again  he  says:  "There 
is  a  transaction  described  in  the  New  Testament  by  the 
terms  'the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  'the  sealing  of  the 
Spirit,'  'the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  and  the  like. 
The  allusion  to  it  in  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles  mark  it  un- 
mistakably as  something  different  from  conversion.  I 
came  to  this  theory  after  a  fresh  study  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  and  from  the  conviction  begotten  by  much 
study  that  there  is  more  light  in  that  book  than  we  have 
yet  imprisoned  in  our  creeds.  The  Spirit  is  to -fall  upon 
believers  and  give  them  this  power."  Again:  "To  say 
that,  in  receiving  Christ,  we  necessarily  receive  in  the 
same  act  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  seems  to  confound  what 
the  Scriptures  make  distinct;  for  it  is  as  sinners  that 
we  accept  Christ  for  our  justification,  but  it  is  as  sons 
that  we  accept  the  Spirit  for  our  sanctification.  It  is  a 
fact  that  the  Holy  Ghost  has  been  given  in  consecra- 
tion; faith  appropriated  this  fact  for  our  sanctification." 

Under  existing  circumtsances,  if  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon 
should  return  to  this  earth  and  desire  to  conduct  a  meet- 
ing along  the  line  of  the  foregoing  statements  in  the 


64  Lucius  B.  Compton 

Baptist  Church  at  Clyde,  or  almost  any  other  place,  he 
would  be  locked  out  on  the  charge  of  heresy.  I  never 
have  preached  the  second  work  stronger  than  Gordon 
does. 

It  is  truly  amazing  how  many  are  ignorant  of  the 
real  Bible  way  of  salvation.  When  I  ask  people,  who 
have  been  Church  members  from  childhood,  if  they 
know  that  they  are  saved,  the  best  they  can  invariably 
say  is,  "I  am  a  Church  member;"  or,  "I  trust  to  be 
saved;"  or,  "I  hope  so." 

A  prominent  minister  told  me  he  knew  he  was  saved, 
but  that  he  committed  sin  in  word,  thought,  and  deed 
every  day.  I  said,  "Brother,  is  it  possible  that  you  com- 
mit sin  each  day  in  word,  thought,  and  deed?  Let  me 
tell  you,  sir,  that  the  devil  himself  could  n't  beat  that." 
If  we  are  saved,  we  do  not  commit  sin ;  if  we  commit  sin, 
we  belong  to  the  devil.  We  can  not  be  Christians  and 
sinners  at  the  same  time.  Please  look  up  these  refer- 
ences and  believe  God's  precious  truth:  Matt,  i,  21 ;  John 
viii,  34;  I  John  iii,  6-9;  v,  18;  2  John  ix;  i  John  i,  9; 
Titus  ii,  II,  12;  2  Thess.  iii,  3;  and  Rom.  vi,  16.  The 
whole  Bible  condemns  sin  in  every  form.  Nine  out  of 
ten  preachers  in  this  country  preach  a  sinning  religion; 
that  is,  that  no  one  can  be  saved  from  sin  in  this  life. 
Why  call  sinners  to  repentance  if  you  can  not  offer  them 
something  different  from  that  which  they  already  have: 
Very  few  are  in  a  condition  to  receive  the  truth  of  entire 
sanctification ;  most  professing  Christians  need  to  learn 
what  a  Scriptural  regeneration  will  do  for  them.  When 
we  consider  the  existing  condition  of  the  Churches,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  those  who  are  led  into  the  deeper  truths 
of  God  are  called  heretics. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
EXPERIENCES  CONTINUED. 

The:  Savior  said  that  "the  foxes  have  holes  and  the 
birds  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  has  no  place  to 
lay  His  head."  Again  the  Scripture  says,  "For  here- 
unto were  ye  called:  because  Christ  also  suffered  for 
you,  leaving  you  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  His 
steps."  In  my  experience  as  an  evangelist  in  Western 
North  Carolina  I  have  many  times  been  able  to  follow 
in  the  Savior's  steps,  inasmuch  as,  like  Him,  I  had  no 
place  to  lay  my  head.  I  have  truly  learned  that  to  be 
red-hot  for  God  and  Bible  holiness  means  to  go  through 
with  the  despised,  unpopular  crowd ;  it  means  to  be  a 
pilgrim  and  a  stranger  in  this  world.  In  the  eyes  of  the 
world  it  is  to  be  as  its  offscourings,  but  in  the  eyes  of 
God  it  is  to  be  a  member  of  the  sheepskin  and  goatskin 
brigade  who  wander  in  mountains  and  in  dens  and  in 
caves  of  the  earth,  of  whom  the  world  is  not  worthy. 

My  friends  used  to  come  to  me  and  say,  "Lucius,  if 
you  will  give  up  this  doctrine  that  you  preach,  and  be 
one  of  us  again,  we  will  board  your  wiie,  and  send  you 
off  to  college,  and  make  a  great  preacher  of  j'ou,  and  it 
won't  be  long  until  you  will  be  filling  the  best  pulpits 
in  the  Church."  But  these  friends  did  not  hear  the 
other  Voice,  whispering  in  my  ear,  saying,  "My  child, 
if  you  are  willing  to  be  despised  and  rejected  of  men, 
unnoticed  and  unknown,  unpopular  and  obscure  for  My 
sake  and  the  gospel's,  I  will  give  you  a  hundred-fold  in 
this  life,  and  eternal  life  in  the  world  to  come."  O,  Hal- 
5  •  65 


66  Lucius  B.  Compton 

lelujah!  My  soul  is  inundated  with  heaven's  glory  as  I 
write.  Sometimes  friends  come  to  me  and  say,  ''Brother 
Compton,  I  feel  sorry  for  you;  you  must  be  having  a 
hard  time;  no  one  seems  to  appreciate  your  labors."  1 
always  reply,  "God  bless  you,  brother,  do  n't  waste  your 
sympathies  on  me ;  it 's  the  other  folks,  without  Jesus, 
who  need  your  tears  and  your  sympathy."  O,  glory! 
glory!  glory!  for  the  privilege  of  being  sons  of  God: 
therefore  the  world  knoweth  us  not,  because  it  knew  Hin 
not. 

Because  church  and  schoolhouse  doors  have  been 
closed  against  me  I  have  many  times  had  to  preach  in 
little  rooms  in  mountain  cabins,  where  no  ventilation 
could  be  obtained,  and  my  garments  would  become  satu- 
rated with  perspiration.  Then  I  would  have  to  step  out 
into  the  cold  night  air,  and  walk  over  the  mountains 
two  or  three  piiles  to  spend  the  night.  The  next  morn- 
ing I  would  find  my  clothes  frozen  until  coated  with  ice, 
and,  putting  them  on,  allow  them  to  melt  and  dry  upon 
my  body.  And  often  have  I  spent  the  night  in  cabins 
where  the  rain  and  snow  would  fall  through  the  roof, 
and  I  was  forced  to  sleep  with  the  covers  over  my  head 
to  keep  it  dry.  And,  glory  to  God!  through  it  all  He 
kept  me  in  perfect  health,  and  people  would  come  for 
miles,  fall  in  at  the  altar,  and  seek  God  for  His  pardon- 
ing and  sanctifying  grace. 

At  a  certain  place  the  opposition  was  very  great.  The 
preacher  sent  me  a  letter  forbidding  me  to  preach  in 
any  of  the  churches  on  his  charge.  Some  of  the  rowdy 
boys  from  the  place  where  this  preacher  lived  asked  me 

if  I  wanted  to  hold  a  meeting  at  L .     I  told  them  I 

did,  but  that  I  did  not  know  of  a  place  that  could  be 

procured  in  which  to  have  it,  as  L was  the  center 

of  opposition  in  that  country.     They  told  me  that  they 


The:  Mountain  Evangelist.  67 

would  fix  up  an  old  schoolhouse  on  the  edge  of  the 
town  with  stove,  lights,  and  seats,  if  I  would  come.  I 
left  an  appointment  for  a  certain  night,  and  when  the 
time  came  I  found  that  the  preacher  was  so  bitter  against 
me  that  he  had  gone  personally  to  his  people,  warning 
them  against  the  meeting.  That  night,  upon  arrival 
at  the  schoolhouse,  I  found  that  my  congregation  con- 
sisted of  the  four  boys  who  had  invited  me  to  the  place. 
I  preached  to  the  boys,  and  announced  the  services  to 
continue.  The  next  day,  as  I  went  to  the  post-office  to 
get  my  mail,  I  was  greeted  with  such  yells  as,  "Ha !  Ha ! 
Yonder  goes  the  holy  man !  Look,  there  he  goes !  That 's 
him." 

There  was  a  little  patch  of  woods  below  the  old 
schoolhouse,  and  thither  I  repaired.  Scraping  away  the 
snow,  I  buried  my  face  in  the  leaves,  and  told  God  He 
must  shake  that  country  by  Divine  power,  and  there,  in 
prevailing  prayer,  I  received  the  witness  that  God  was 
going  to  do  it.  Inside  of  a  week  the  house  would  not 
hold  the  people,  and  souls  were  being  saved  at  every 
service.  And,  bless  God,  some  of  the  rowdy  boys  who 
invited  and  opened  the  way  for  me  to  hold  the  meet- 
ing, fell  at  the  altar  and  were  blessedly  converted.  The 
preacher  who  had  fought  me  so  bitterly  came  one  night, 
and  sat  back  by  the  door,  and  while  I  was  talking  he 
came  and  threw  his  arms  about  my  neck,  asking  me  to 
forgive  him.  He  invited  me  home  to  spend  the  night 
with  him,  and,  while  in  his  home,  he  told  me  that  it  was 
my  stand  against  secret  societies  that  had  poisoned  him 
against  me.  I  moved  the  meeting  from  the  schoolhouse 
to  his  church,  and  from  his  church,  later,  to  a  larger 
one,  and  still  we  could  not  accommodate  the  people. 
The  dear  people  kept  me  busy  going  from  house  to 
hc^se  receiving  their  apologies   for  the  way  they  had 


68  Lucius  B.  Compton 

treated  me.  The  preacher  got  sanctified,  gave  up  his 
lodge,  and  to-day  is  a  power  for  God  and  Bible  hoUness. 
Hallelujah!  It  pays  to  learn  the  secret  of  prevailing 
prayer. 

Some  time  after  this  I  went  to  B to  conduct  a 

meeting.  Here,  also,  I  found  much  opposition;  but  the 
God  who  has  never  known  defeat,  came  down  in  great 
power,  and  men  and  women  would  fall  like  dead  folks 
while  I  was  preaching,  and  lay  thus  for  many  hours. 
Some  services  would  last  all  night  long,  and  people 
would  come  for  miles  to  see  the  slain  of  the  Lord. 

Hiram  Rich,  a  Baptist  preacher,  who  was  very  bit- 
ter against  me  and  the  work,  had  never  heard  me,  but, 
like  nine-tenths  of  the  opposers,  had  only  heard  of  me. 
This  brother  came  to  one  of  these  services  to  see  for  him- 
self. The  first  night  God  got  hold  of  him  and  convinced 
him  that  he  had  been  opposing  God  Almighty's  truth, 
and  after  a  few  services  he  fell  at  the  altar,  and  cried 
for  deliverance  from  the  carnal  mind.  After  going 
through  a  real  death  for  a  few  days,  the  Pentecostal 
fire  flashed  from  heaven  and  sanctified  him  wholly.  He 
immediately  began  to  preach  sanctification  like  a  flaming 
messenger  of  fire,  and  to-day  is  a  powerful,  fire-baptized 
exponent  of  the  fourfold  gospel. 

We  have  heard  Brother  Rich  tell  how  the  preachers 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  when  they  ordained  him,  prayed 
God  to  make  "Hiram  a  man,  like  Barnabas,  full  of 
faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  No  sooner  had  God 
answered  their  prayer,  and  given  him  the  blessing  that 
Barnabas  enjoyed,  than  they  Churched  him  as  a  heretic. 
"Consistency,  thou  art  a  jewel !"  While  Brother  Rich  was 
a  quiet,  carnal,  little-used-of-God  Baptist  preacher,  preach- 
ing the  doctrine  of  the  Church  more  zealously  than 
that  of  the  Bible,  he  had  an  unbroken  fellowship  with  the 
^      Church ;   but  no   sooner   had   God   filled   him   with  the 


The:  Mountain  Evange:i.ist.  69 

Holy  Ghost,  and  converted  him  into  a  flaming  messen- 
ger of  gospel  truth,  and  made  a  great  soul-winner  of 
him,  than  his  Church  raised  the  cry  of  ''heresy"  and 
''fanaticism,"  and  excluded  him  from  their  member- 
ship. We  have  seen  so  many  precious  saints  turned 
out  of  the  Churches  of  their  choice  in  these  late  years 
because  they  were  "too  religious,"  but  how  few  mem- 
bers of  these  Churches  are  ever  turned  out  on  account 
of  their  meanness !  How  really  are  we  living  in  the  last 
days,  when  "men  shall  have  a  form  of  godliness,  but 
shall  deny  the  power  (Holy  Ghost)   thereof." 

Beginning  01^  Houness  in  AsheviIvIvE. 

The  day  before  a  certain  election  in  Asheville,  North 
Carolina,  while  I  was  passing  along  the  principal  street, 
I  noticed  that  the  city  seemed  greatly  stirred  over  the 
coming  election,  and  groups  of  men  could  be  seen  in 
all  directions  electioneering  for  their  favorite  candidates. 
The  thought  occurred  to  me,  "I  wonder  if  any  one 
ever  electioneers  upon  these  streets  for  Jesus."  Immedi- 
dately  I  stepped  over  to  a  policeman,  who  was  standing 
near  by,  and  said,  "Sir,  does  anybody  ever  electioneer 
for  Jesus  on  these  streets?"  "No  one,"  he  replied,  "ex- 
cept old  B ,  and  nobody  pays  any  attention  to  him." 

I  hurried  over  to  the  public  square,  and  took  my  position 
in  front  of  the  Buncombe  County  Courthouse,  and,  with 
a  prayer  for  God's  help,  began  to  sing : 

"  I  dreamed  that  the  great  judgment  morning 

Had  dawned,  and  the  trumpet  had  blown ; 
I  dreamed  that  the  nations  had  gathered 

In  judgment  before  the  white  throne ; 
From  the  throne  came  a  bright  shining  angel, 

Who  stood  on  the  land  and  the  sea, 
And  swore  with  his  hand  raised  to  heaven,  , 

That  time  was  no  longer  to  be. 


70  Lucius  B.  Compton 

Then  O,  what  a  weeping  and  wailing, 

As  the  lost  were  told  of  their  fate; 
They  cried  for  the  rocks  and  the  mountains, 

And  prayed ;  but  their  prayers  were  too  late." 

By  the  time  I  had  completed  the  song,  I  had  a  con- 
gregation of  from  two  to  three  hundred  people  gathered 
around  me,  with  questioning  looks  upon  their  faces,  and 
I  began  the  Lord's  message  by  saying :  "I  see  that  there 
is  great  excitement  about  this  place  in  regard  to  the 
coming  election,  as  to  who  is  to  be  the  man,  and  I  feel 
it  my  duty  to  my  country  and  to  Almighty  God  to  elec- 
tioneer upon  these  streets  this  afternoon.  Before  I  com- 
mence I  want  to  bow  upon  my  knees  and  invoke  the 
blessings  of  God  upon  what  I  shall  say ;  for  I  realize  that 
every  word  I  speak  I  will  have  to  meet  at  the  judgment- 
bar  of  God.  Let  every  man  who  realizes  this  fact  bow 
your  head  while  I  pray." 

After  a  short  prayer,  during  which  many  of  those 
men  reverently  bowed  their  heads,  I  arose  to  my  feet 
and  began  to  preach  Jesus  to  them.  I  said :  ''I  am  here 
this  afternoon  to  represent  One  who  is  sure  to  be  elected 
whether  you  vote  for  him  or  not.  I  learn  that  over 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago  there  was  an  election  held 
in  a  prominent  Eastern  city,  and  the  names  of  the  can- 
didates were  Jesus  Christ  and  Barabbas.  The  majority 
of  the  voters  cast  their  ballot  for  Barabbas  and  against 
Jesus;  nevertheless  Jesus  Christ  was  elected,  and  to-day, 
while  I  am  electioneering  for  Him,  He  is  sitting  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  the  Father,  and  every  person  who  will 
accept  Him  now  will  have  the  privilege  of  reigning  with 
Him  in  His  glorious  kingdom." 

For  about  forty-five  minutes  God  poured  into  my 
soul  a  burning  message,  and  sent  the  truth  home  to  the 
hearts  of  that  congregation.    As  I  closed  my  message,  the 


The:  Mountain  Evangeust.  71 

deputy  sheriff  of  the  county  rushed  up  to  me  with  tears 
in  his  eye5,  saying,  "Will  you  preach  in  the  courthouse 
for  us  next  Sunday?"  I  said,  "Yes,  sir,  I  will."  He 
called  the  attention  of  the  people,  and  announced  the 
meeting  for  Sunday.  I  was  on  hand,  and  preached  ac- 
cording to  promise,  and  continued  the  meeting  many 
days,  preaching  afternoons  from  an  old  band-stand  as 
the  crowds  passed  out  of  court,  and  evenings  in  the  court- 
house. 

God  only  knows  the  results  of  those  meetings.  I  know 
of  a  number  who  were  convicted  in  the  street  meeting 
that  afternoon  who  sought  and  found  God.  One  young 
man,  who  had  been  fleeing  from  justice  on  account  of 
blockading  liquor,  received  an  arrow  of  conviction  in  his 
heart  which  never  left  until  Jesus  saved  him.  Later  he 
was  sanctified  wholly,  and  called  to  preach,  and  to-day 
he  is  traveling  the  mountains,  preaching  a  full  gospel  and 
being  used  of  God  in  saving  souls. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  holiness  preaching  at 
Asheville.  From  this  humble  start  the  work  has  grown 
until,  at  present  writing,  there  are  scores  of  people  pro- 
fessing the  experience.  The  holiness  people  have  a  large 
church  of  their  own  on  Buxton  Street,  and  a  regular 
pastor.  The  services  are  often  so  largely  attended  that 
the  large  audience-room  will  in  no  wise  accommodate 
the  people.  My  gospel  tent  has  been  pitched  at  various 
times  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  and  God,  through 
these  meeting,  has  often  stirred  the  people  in  a  mighty 
way,  and  scores  have  been  saved  and  sanctified.  Oppo- 
sition has  become  greater  and  greater  as  the  work  has 
progressed;  but  God  is  with  us,  and  gives  us  the  vic- 
tory all  along  the  way. 


CHAPTER  X. 
DEATH   OF  LITTLE   MARIETTA. 

Little:  Marietta,  the  only  child  that  God  has  ever 
given  us,  was  the  bright  little  sunshine  of  our  lives  and 
the  joy  of  our  home.  Often,  when  I  had  been  kept  from 
home  for  weeks,  on  my  return  she  would  throw  her 
little  arms  around  my  neck  and  cry  for  joy. 

At  one  time  I  was  in  the  midst  of  a  meeting  in  the 
mountains,  several  miles  from  Asheville,  when  a  mes- 
senger brought  me  word  that  my  little  child  was  dying, 
and  if  I  wanted  to  see  her  alive  I  must  hasten  to  her 
side.  I  saddled  my  horse,  and  rode  home  as  quickly  as 
possible.  Arriving  a  little  after  midnight,  I  found  my 
faithful  wife,  with  little  Marietta  in  her  arms  gasping 
for  breath.  No '  one  knows  the  anguish  of  my  heart 
as  I  looked  at  my  sweet  little  darling,  and  realized  that  I 
would  so  soon  have  to  give  her  up.  My  great  consola- 
tion, however,  was  in  the  fact  that  He  to  whom  I  must 
give  her  was  the  same  gentle,  loving  Savior  who  had  said, 
''Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid 
them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  I 
quietly  withdrew  from  the  presence  of  all  earthly  friends, 
and,  where  none  but  the  ear  of  God  could  hear,  I  poured 
out  my  bleeding  heart.  I  cried  to  Him  to  spare  my 
darling's  .ife,  when  a  voice  seemed  to  whisper  to  me, 
''Can  you  say,  God's  will  be  done?"  I  said:  "Surely  it 
can  not  be  God's  will  to  take  our  only  child.  O,  Lord, 
do  spare  her !"  Again  the  voice :  "Can  you  say,  God's 
will  be  done?"     I  remembered  the  day  that  little  Mari- 

72 


Marietta  Compton. 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  73 

etta  was  born  in  that  little  scantily-furnished  room  on 
the  fifth  floor  in  Cincinnati.  How  I  knelt  down  beside 
the  bed  upon  which  she  and  her  young  mother  lay,  and 
there  solemnly  consecrated  her  life  to  God  for  time  and 
eternity.  Then  I  looked  up  towards  the  heavens  and 
quietly  said,  "Yes,  Lord,  take  her  home,  if  it  be  Thy 
will "  O,  what  a  sweet  peace  flooded  my  soul!  I  arose 
from  my  knees,  satisfied  for  God  to  take  the  child  or 

heal  her.  i     ,    ^      -r 

I  returned  to  the  sickroom,  and  found  that  wite 
could  get  no  faith  for  her  healing  either.  Convinced 
that  this  was  my  last  opportunity  to  be  with  my  child 
this  side  of  heaven,  I  took  her  in  my  arms  and  nursed 
her  through  the  night.  She  talked  with  me  much,  and 
was  so  happy  to  know  that  I  had  come  home ;  she  would 
often  want  me  to  hold  her  up  so  that  she  could  place 
her  arms  about  my  neck  and  tenderly  embrace  me. 

In  the  morning,  about  nine  o'clock,  we  could  see  that 
the  end  was  near.  Her  mother  kneeled  on  one  side  of 
the  bed,  and  I  on  the  other,  and  there  we  prayed  God 
to  make  her  journey  from  earth  to  heaven  as  easy  as 
possible.  In  a  few  moments  she  closed  her  eyes  and 
quietly  fell  asleep,  and  her  little  soul  had  gone  to  be  with 

Tesus. 

No  more  would  we  hear  the  patter  of  those  little 
feet  nor  the  prattle  of  that  childish  voice,  which  was 
sweetest  music  to  our  ears.  Never  again  would  that 
precious  form  hasten  to  meet  me  upon  my  return,  throw 
those  arms  about  my  neck,  and  press  sweet  kisses  to  my 
Ups  •  for,  although  she  seemed  to  be  lying  there  as  ever, 
yet  she  was  not  there,  but  had  taken  a  long  journey,  and 
would  not  come  back  until  the  resurrection-day,  when 
I  knew  I  should  see  her  in  her  glorified  body  with  Jesus 
and  His  holy  angels.     I  arose  from  my  knees  a  better 


74  Lucius  B.  Compton 

man,  realizing  that  for  me  earth  was  poorer  and  heaven 
richer. 

Now  the  important  question  to  consider  was  the 
burial.  I  had  no  money,  and  knew  no  one  from  whom 
I  could  get  any.  The  enemy  of  my  soul  seemed  to  mar- 
shal all  his  demons  about  me  that  day.  Fingers  from 
all  directions  pointed  to  me  as  the  heretic.  I  had  one 
Friend  who  had  never  failed  nor  forsaken  me,  and  I 
went  to  Him  and  laid  it  all  at  His  feet,  and  He  took 
the  burden  away.  Praise  His  precious  name !  I  re- 
stated my  consecration  to  God,  and  told  Him  I  would 
walk  with  Him  and  obey  His  word  forever.  I  had  such 
victory  that  I  could  have  parted  with  all  my  loved  ones, 
because  I  felt  the  everlasting  arm  of  God  beneath  and 
sustaining  me. 

The  Lord  sent  me  every  dollar  that  was  needed  to 
give  my  child  a  good  burial.  Thank  God,  the  experi- 
ence that  I  preach  I  have  tested  in  every  phase  of  life, 
and  I  find  that  it  sustains  through  all  things. 

The  taking  from  us  of  our  little  girl  proved  a  great 
blessing  to  me.  It  caused  me  to  sink  away  into  a  place 
in  Divine  things  where  I  had  never  been  before.  More 
souls  were  saved,  more  sanctified,  had  greater  faith  in 
God,  more  were  divinely  healed  through  the  prayer  of 
faith,  and  deeper,  more  lasting  work  was  done  alto- 
gether. Because  of  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit 
manifested  in  the  meetings,  the  opposing  element,  in- 
cluding the  backslidden  preachers,  have  tried  to  make 
the  people  believe  it  was  hypnotism ;  but  they  are  having 
a  hard  time,  while  we  are  happy  in  the  Lord,  having 
victory  all  along  the  way. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

LESSONS  FOR  THE  SANCTIFIED  AND  OTHERS 
TO  LEARN. 

God,  through  the  prophet  Hosea,  said  that  His  peo- 
ple were  destroyed  or  cut  off  for  lack  of  knowledge. 
Although  He  said  this  almost  three  thousand  years 
ago,  it  clearly  applies  to-day.  The  kind  of  knowledge 
that  God  refers  to  is  not  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  at- 
tained through  years  of  college  and  university  learning. 
Paul  says  in  Corinthians  that  the  wisdom  of  this  world 
is  foolishness  in  the  eyes  of  God,  and  that  He  hath 
chosen  the  foolish,  the  base,  and  the  weak  things  of 
this  world  to  bring  to  naught  the  things  that  this  world 
calls  wisdom.  The  kind  of  knowledge  that  God  calls 
wisdom  is  the  knowledge  that  we  may  have  of  Him  as 
a  personal  Savior  and  of  His  Word  as  God's  revealed 
will.  So,  you  see,  if  a  person  were  born,  and  always 
lived,  in  the  jungles  of  Africa,  and  did  not  know  "A" 
from  "Z,"  but  in  some  way  had  received  more  of  God's 
holiness  in  his  heart  than  anybody  else  in  the  world 
possessed,  he  would  be  the  wisest  person  in  the  world  in 
the  eyes  of  God.  Education  is  a  fine  thing,  and  when 
sanctified  to  God,  one  could  never  receive  too  much  of 
it.  I  have  so  often  felt  my  great  need  of  more  learning; 
but  the  Lord  deliver  us  from  this  modern  plan  of  sub- 
stituting the  curriculum  of  the  schools  for  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  wisdom  of  God ! 

After  God  sanctified  me  wholly,  I  learned  a  great 
many  lessons,  both  through  the  study  of  the  Word,  for 

75 


76  Lucius  B.  Compton 

which  my  appetite  had  greatly  increased,  and  through  per- 
sonal experience.     I  learned — 

I.  That  the  devil  was  not  dead. 

When  the  blessing  came,  and  for  some  days  after- 
ward, God's  glory  flooded  my  soul  until  I  felt  that  the 
devil,  as  far  as  bothering  me  any  more  was  concerned, 
was  surely  dead;  but,  alas!  to  my  surprise  one*  day,  I 
realized  that  the  powers  of  darkness  had  settled  upon 
me  like  the  night.  All  the  demonstration,  all  the  joy, 
and  all  the  peace  seemed  to  have  utterly  left  me,  and  I 
was  alone  in  the  wilderness  with  the  devil.  After  Jesus 
received  the  Holy  Ghost  at  Jordan,  He  was  immediately 
led  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  Satan.  During 
the  whole  of  three  days  this  darkness  continued,  and 
Satan  did  his  utmost  to  defeat  me  by  inducing  me  to 
cast  away  my  confidence  in  God  and  in  His  work  wrought 
in  my  heart. 

I  had  often  been  riding  along  the  Southern  Railroad 
at  a  swift  speed,  greatly  enjoying  the  beautiful  mountain 
scenery  and  the  bright  sunlight  as  it  fell  upon  the  spark- 
ling, rushing  waters  of  the  river  which  ran  close  by, 
when,  suddenly,  the  train  would  dash  into  one  of  the 
many  tunnels  and  utter  darkness  would  ensue.  The  en- 
gine-smoke would  fill  the  car  with  smut,  gas,  and  smoke, 
until  breathing  became  difficult.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, I  never  leaped  from  the  car  to  save  my  life, 
because  I  knew  that  would  be  folly ;  I  never  fretted 
about  the  unpleasant  atmosphere  or  the  density  of  the 
darkness ;  what  I  did  was  to  sit  quietly  back  in  my  seat, 
contented  and  happy.  I  knew  that  it  would  soon  be 
over,  and  I  trusted  the  engineer  to  pull  me  through  in 
safety. 

I  believed  these  three  days  of  darkness  through  which 
I  was  passing  to  be  a  spiritual  tunnel  that  God  was  taking 


iThe  Mountain  Evangelist.  77 

me  through,  which  would  result  in  my  good  and  His 
glory.  I  trusted  the  Engineer,  and  held  on  to  the  gos- 
pel train  by  faith,  and,  glory  to  God!  soon  the  bright 
sunlight,  the  towering  mountains,  and  the  sparkling 
river  of  God's  love  came  again  into  view,  and  the  victory 
was  gained.  O,  beloved,  when  darkness  comes,  hold 
on  to  the  God  of  our  salvation,  and  He  '11  carry  you 
through. 

2.  That  the  sanctiHed  are  strongly  tempted. 

One  of  the  devil's  big  guns  to  hinder  the  spread  and 
acceptance  of  the  doctrine  of  holiness  is  to  circulate  the 
erroneous  report  that  the  sanctified  people  say  that  they 
can  not  be  tempted.  In  all  the  years  that  I  have  been 
sanctified  and  mingling  with  sanctified  folks,  I  have 
never  seen  a  person,  nor  heard  tell  of  a  person,  who 
had  seen  any  one  that  made  any  such  claim.  Any  claim 
of  this  kind  would  be  heresy.  If  Jesus  Himself  were 
tempted  severely  by  Satan,  it  would  be  folly  for  any 
one,  born  in  sin  and  living  in  the  midst  of  it,  as  God's 
people  are  forced  to  do  in  this  world,  ever  to  claim  to 
be  exempt  from  temptation.  The  real  truth  of  the  mat- 
ter is,  that  there  is  no  people  on  earth  as  persistently 
tempted  by  the  powers  of  darkness  as  the  sanctified  are. 

In  the  regenerate  heart  the  devil  knows  that  his 
greatest  work  (inbred  sin)  still  remains.  He  also  knows 
that,  as  long  as  it  does  remain,  and  that  person  fails 
to  get  rid  of  it  in  sanctification,  the  chances  are  ten  to 
one  that  he  will  backslide  anyway;  so  he  does  not  waste 
many  of  his  cannon-balls  on  him.  The  sanctified  heart 
and  life  is  free  from  all  the  sin  that  the  devil  ever  put 
there;  consequently,  he  must  put  in  his  most  desperate 
efforts  to  regain  his  former  follower;  which  thousands 
can  testify  he  does. 

In  order  to  receive  the  experience  of  entire  sanctifi- 


7S  Lucius  B.  Compton 

cation  the  seeker  must  put  his  all  upon  God's  sanctifying 
altar.  This  means  all  bodily  appetites  as  well  as  every- 
thing else;  such  as  time,  talent,  friends,  reputation, 
riches,  etc.  When  all  is  surrendered,  the  blessing  comes 
as  definitely,  and  many  times  more  definitely  than  par- 
don. Now,  one  of  the  first  temptations  of  Satan  will 
be  to  tell  you  that  you  never  did  put  everything  on  the 
altar,  and  in  this  way  he  will  get  you  to  tinkering  with 
your  consecration.  If  you  listen  to  Satan  in  this,  you 
will  very  soon  get  in  the  "dumps."  You  tell  the  devil 
that  it  is  none  of  his  business;  that  is  a  matter  settled 
between  you  and  Jesus,  and  shout  the  victory.  The 
devil  is  the  accuser  of  the  brethren. 

When  you  were  consecrated,  you  put  all  you  knew, 
and  all  you  did  not  know,  on  the  altar;  so  probably,  for 
a  long  time,  new  things  will  present  themselves,  and  all 
you  are  to  do  is  to  happily  shout,  "Yes,  Lord;  here  it 
is;  take  it!"  One  of  the  surest  ways  of  getting  rid  of 
the  devil  at  such  times  is  to  shout  him  out  of  counte- 
nance. O,  glory !  He  can  not  stand  Holy  Ghost  demon- 
stration, but  he  is  a  great  lover  of  demonstration  out 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Another  method  of  the  devil  to  cause  you  to  back- 
slide is  to  induce  you  to  practice  something  again  that 
you  told  God  you  would  give  up.  For  example,  you 
tell  God  that  you  will  quit  the  use  of  tobacco;  the  devil 
knows  that  to  be  your  weakest  point,  and  he  attacks  you 
there.  He  will  have  some  tobacco-chewing  friend  call 
upon  you,  and  for  an  hour  spit  the  filthy  stuff  all  about 
you.  The  fumes  of  the  tobacco  creates  in  you  the  old 
desire,  and  if  you  yield,  the  Lord  will  leave  you  as  sud- 
denly as  He  came  in. 

One  more  plan  of  the  devil  I  desire  to  mention  in 
this  connection,   is  to   get   you   to    quench    the    Spirit. 


The  Mountain  Evangeust.  79 

Where  the  Holy  Ghost  is  allowed  to  have  His  way,  there 
will  always  be  Holy  Ghost  demonstration.  I  do  not  say 
that  every  one  will  jump  the  same  or  jump  at  all;  neither 
will  every  one  shout  and  clap  their  hands  the  same,  or 
do  it  at  all.  But  there  will  be  some  manifestation  of  the 
kind  mentioned,  or  of  the  many  kinds  not  mentioned. 
This  you  must  always  be  sure  to  do— if  the  Spirit  moves 
you  to  shout,  jump,  clap  your  hands,  run  around  the 
building,  or  anything  else,  quench  it  not,  but  obey,  and 
by  so  doing  your  soul  will  ever  be  on  the  victory  side.  I 
see  more  of  a  tendency  to  formalism  among  the  sancti- 
fied folks  than  fanaticism.  The  Lord  keep  us  so  red- 
hot  that  the  devil  will  never  know  what  we  are  going  to 
do  next. 

3.  That  we  never  get  so  far  in  this  life  that  we  can 
not  commit  sin. 

Another  trick  of  the  devil  to  hinder  the  spread  of 
Bible  holiness  is  to  warn  the  people  against  us  by  say- 
ing "we  teach  that  we  can  not  commit  sin  after  we  are 
sanctified."  We  make  no  such  claim.  What  we  do  claim 
is,  that  we  can  not  commit  sin  and  be  sanctified ;  neither 
can  one  commit  sin  and  be  justified.  A  good  case  of 
old-time  Bible  conviction  will  make  any  man  so  sick  of 
sin,  and  hate  it  so  thoroughly,  that  he  would  as  soon 
lose  his  right  arm  as  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it. 
Sanctified  folks  could  commit  sin  if  they  wanted  to,  but 
they  do  not  want  to.  The  ''want  to,"  or  tendency  to 
sin,  is  eliminated  with  the  eradication  of  the  Old  Man. 

This  present  life  is  a  probationary  life,  and  as  long 
as  we  are  on  probation,  or  trial,  we  are  liable  to  fall. 
The  devil  and  his  demons  were  at  one  time  the  bright- 
est of  angels  in  glory.  If  they  fell  from  their  first  es- 
tate, with  all  their  heavenly  surroundings,  what  folly  to 
suppose  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  a  Christian  to 


So  Lucius  B.  Compton 

fall,  with  sin  abounding  on  every  side!  I  thank  God 
that  the  day  is  soon  coming,  however,  when  the  devil 
will  be  cast  into  the  lake  of  nre,  where  he  can  no  longer 
tempt  nor  lure  God's  people  from  their  Savior.  Hal- 
lelujah ! 

4.  That  we  are  never  free  from  mistakes  in  this  pres- 
ent life, 

God  created  Adam  and  Eve  in  His  own  image.  They 
were  perfect  in  body,  in  mind,  and  in  heart.  When  they 
transgressed  they  fell  from  this  perfect  state,  not  only 
spiritually,  but  mentally  and  physically  as  well.  Jesus 
Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  men  from  their  sins, 
or,  in  other  words,  to  restore  them  spiritually  to  the 
same  purity  and  perfection  of  heart  that  our  first  parents 
enjoyed  before  the  fall.  Entire  sanctification  does  this 
for  the  heart.  But  you  see  that  the  redemptive  plan  for 
us  in  this  present  state  does  not  provide  for  the  per- 
fection of  our  bodies  and  minds;  hence  we  are  all  de- 
fective in  judgment,  and  however  pure  and  holy  our 
hearts  may  be,  we  are  ever  liable  to  mistakes.  But,  mark 
you,  although  sin  is  always  a  mistake,  a  mistake  is  not 
always  a  sin.  The  holiest  people  often  make  mistakes 
that  grieve  them  to  the  heart,  yet  they  realize  that  they 
have  committed  no  sin  against  God. 

Man  is  a  trinity  consisting  of  mind,  heart  or  soul,  and 
body;  the  heart,  or  soul,  is  the  real  man  himself,  con- 
sisting of  the  conscience,  the  will,  and  the  affections. 
These  three  constituent  parts  survived  the  fall  of  man. 
The  conscience  of  man  teaches  him  right  from  wTong; 
the  will  enables  him  to  choose  or  reject;  and  the  affec- 
tions cause  him  to  love  or  hate.  The  will  is  the  king  of 
man,  and  hence  God  always  appeals  to  man's  will,  and 
says,  "Whosoever  Zi'ill,  may  come."  On  the  other  hand, 
whosoever  will,  may  reject.     No  amount  of  grace  takes 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  8i 

from  us  our  will-power  or  free  moral  agency;  so  if  the 
sanctified  will  to  commit  sin  and  backslide,  they  may  do 
so;  or  if  they  zvill  to  obey  God  and  retain  the  blessing, 
thank  God,  there  are  not  enough  devils  on  earth  or  in 
hell  to  make  them  backslide.  O,  hallelujah!  Don't  you 
feel  like  laying  down  the  book  and  taking  a  good  shout? 
O,  glory!  glory!  glory! 

5.  That  we  must  redeem  the  time,  because  the  days 
are  evil. 

In  walking  in  the  light  as  the  Lord  reveals  it,  an- 
other thing  He  has  taught  me  is  the  necessity  of  redeem- 
ing the  time.  I  realize  that  each  day  is  a  new  one — 
one  that  I  never  experienced  before,  and  never  will  again ; 
hence  the  importance  of  making  each  moment  count  for 
God  and  souls. 

The  apostles,  in  Acts  vi,  4,  said  that  they  "must  con- 
tinue steadfastly  in  prayer,  and  in  the  ministry  of  the 
Word."  This  is  the  only  duty  of  the  minister  of  to-day, 
and  yet  how  very  few  thus  perform  it! 

He  who  would  know  the  real  secret  of  soul-winning 
must  first  learn  to  spend  the  most  of  his  time  alone  with 
God  and  His  Word.  In  the  evangelistic  work  in  these 
mountains  it  is  often  very  inconvenient  to  get  alone  with 
the  Lord,  because  the  people  are  not  often  prepared  to 
give  one  a  separate  room.  Often  the  whole  family  live 
in  a  one-roomed  log-cabin.  Many  times,  under  these 
circumstances,  I  put  on  my  overcoat  and  hunt  the  barn, 
where,  nearly  buried  in  the  hay,  I  wait  on  God  in  medi- 
tation and  prayer.  Family  prayer  ^nd  other  forms  of 
united  prayer  are  good,  but  a  little  while  in  the  secret 
chamber  with  God  is  often  worth  a  much  longer  period 
spent  some  other  way. 

Many  times,  when  engaged  in  a  fireside  conversation, 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  would  impress  me  to  arise  and 
6 


82  Lucius  B.  Compton 

leave  the  family,  in  order  to  get  alone  with  God.  Of 
course,  they  can  not  understand  such  strange  actions,  but 
if  we  obey  God  we  will  always  be  doing  things  that  will' 
seem  strange  and  incomprehensible  to  folks  about  us. 
''They  know  us  not,  because  they  knew  Him  not." 

If  you  want  to  know  why  the  average  minister  has  no 
power  in  winning  souls,  just  spend  a  little  time  with 
him  and  listen  to  his  conversations,  and  you  will  learn 
the  secret.  I  have  never  heard  of  a  lazy  man  or  a  loafer 
that  was  known  very  far  for  his  spirituality.  So,  when 
I  see  a  preacher  or  professor  of  religion  hanging  around 
stores  and  post-offices,  whiling  away  his  time,  I  con- 
clude that  if  he  has  any  salvation  at  all,  it  is  away  down 
in  the  bulb.  Any  so-called  Christian  who  can  go  vis- 
iting and  spend  several  hours  talking  about  everything 
else,  and  not  mention  salvation,  is  a  good  candidate  for 
the  moumers'-bench.  Of  course,  if  you  talk  religion 
most  of  the  time,  the  folks  will  call  you  a  fanatic  and  re- 
ligious crank;  but  when  time  is  ended  and  the  judgment 
is  come,  no  one  will  regret  that  he  spent  so  much  time 
in  prayer,  in  the  study  of  God's  Word,  or  in  conversa- 
tions about  salvation  from  sin  and  Bible  holiness.    Again : 

6.  That  going  in  debt  is  a  hindrance  to  spiritual 
growth  and  happiness. 

The  Scripture  tells  us  to  "owe  no  man  anything,  save 
to  love  one  another."  It  is  always  much  easier  to  get 
into  debt  than  to  get  out.  Many  of  God's  people  are  so 
weighted  down  with  debts  that  they  never  get  very  far 
along  in  spiritual  things.  They  pray,  but  their  debts 
seem  to  come  between  them  and  God;  they  arise  to  tes- 
tify, but  the  sight  of  a  person  in  the  congregation  whom 
they  owe  hinders  their  Hberty;  they  feel  that  they  ought 
to  speak  to  that  man  on  the  back  seat  about  his  soul,  but, 


The  Mountain  Evangeust.  83 

behold,  they  have  owed  him  sixty  cents  for  over  three 
years,  and  he  has  no  confidence  in  them. 

At  one  time  I  got  into  debt,  and  thought  it  unavoid- 
able, but  soon  found  it  such  a  hindrance  to  my  faith  that 
I  quit  preaching  for  a  while,  and,  taking  a  mattock,  went 
to  grubbing  new  ground  at  sixty  cents  a  day.  1  had  not 
done  hard  physical  work  for  a  long  time,  and  my  hands 
blistered  so  that  I  had  to  keep  them  soaked  with  oil  and 
well  bandaged  in  order  to  stand  it  at  all.  The  Lord 
helped  me  to  pay  my  debt  in  this  way,  and,  thank  God, 
I  could  once  more  take  my  Bible,  and  sing,  preach,  and 
pray,  realizing  that  I  was  a  free  man. 

The  kind  of  conviction  that  results  in  Bible  salvation 
will  make  a  man  put  his  nose  on  his  back  track,  and 
either  pay  or  promise  to  pay,  with  the  first  opportunity, 
every  cent  he  owes  any  man.  If  the  man  is  dead,  you 
will  gladly  pay  his  heirs.  If  the  debt  is  called  ''outlawed" 
by  the  courts,  you  will  realize  that  no  debt  is  ever  out- 
lawed in  the  courts  of  the  Eternal  Judge,  and  you  will 
pay  the  debt  with  regular  interest  up  to  date.  No  won- 
der that  so  few  people  are  getting  saved  these  days !  In 
conclusion,  I  have  learned — 

7.  That  sanctiUcation  is  purity  and  not  maturity. 

The  devil  uses  his  co-workers,  in  both  the  ministry 
and  laity,  to  prejudice  the  minds  of  the  people  against 
holiness  by  saying  that  we  claim  absolute  perfection,  or 
that  we  can  never  get  any  farther  out  in  Divine  things 
in  this  Hfe  after  we  are  sanctified. 

Absolute  perfection  is  alone  the  attribute  of  God,  and 
that  we  can  never  possess.  The  perfection  that  the  sanc- 
tified enjoy  is  the  Christian  perfection  of  which  John 
Wesley,  the  founder  of  Methodism,  was  the  great  expo- 
nent, along  with  Paul  of  Tarsus  and  most  of  the  other 


84  Lucius  B.  Compton 

Bible  writers.  Christian  perfection  is  perfection,  or  purity 
of  the  heart.  The  sinner  receives  pardon  in  regeneration, 
and  the  beHever  purity  in  entire  sanctification.  Purity 
is  one  thing,  and  maturity  is  a  vastly  different  thing. 

Sin  is  the  only  element  in  the  heart  that  is  not  pure. 
When  sin  is  all  out  of  the  heart,  there  being  nothing 
impure  left,  of  course,  the  heart  is  perfectly  pure  and 
holy.  But  there  are  great  things  in  store  for  every  per- 
fect or  sanctified  Christian.  Sanctification  just  gives  one 
a  good  start  in  the  Christian  race  by  eliminating  from  the 
runner  the  greatest  barrier  to  his  progress;  i.  e.,  the  old 
man  of  inbred  sin.  One  can  not  grow  into  entire  sancti- 
fication ;  but,  thank  God,  there  are  illimitable  heights  to 
which  he  can  attain  after  receiving  the  experience. 

Reader,  I  beg  you,  in  Christ's  name,  to  lay  aside  all 
prejudice,  that  you  "may  be  strong  to  comprehend  with 
all  the  saints  what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth, 
and  height ;  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth 
knowledge,  that  ye  may  be  filled  with  all  the  fullness  of 
God." 

"Now  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abun- 
dantly above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the 
power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  Him  be  the  glory  in  the 
Church  and  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  all  generations  for  ever 
and  ever."     (American  Bible.) 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SECRET  SOCIETIES. 

I  HAVE  been  asked  many  times  my  opinion  upon  the 
secret  society  question.  Many  honest  folks  desire  to  know 
the  evil  of  them,  who,  when  given  the  light,  will  be  glad 
to  obey  God  and  drop  them  forever.  For  the  benefit  of 
such  persons  I  devote  this  short  chapter  to  the  subject, 
with  my  earnest  prayers  that  those  who  read  it  may  for- 
ever withdraw  from  any  affiliation  with  these  "marks  of 
the  beast." 

My  stand  against  secret  societies,  and  especially 
Masonry,  has  caused  many  to  withdraw  from  them,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  brought  me  much  persecution  and 
opposition.  I  have  long  been  clearly  convinced  that  no 
one  could  be  a  Bible  Christian,  a  true  follower  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  at  the  same  time  be  a  true  Mason. 

At  one  time  I  was  in  a  few  days'  meeting  at  Clyde, 
North  Carolina,  where  I  noticed  that  there  were  at  least 
seven  preachers  in  that  town  wearing  Masonic  pins,  and 
v/ondering  why  they  could  not  have  a  meeting  of  power 
in  that  place.  At  that  time  I  was  very  free  to  tell  them 
they  could  never  expect  God  to  pour  out  His  Spirit  as 
long  as  all  the  preachers  were  yoked  up  with  ungodly 
fraternities.  A  long  time  has  passed  since  then ;  I  have 
learned  a  great  many  things  I  did  not  know  at  that  time, 
both  in  and  out  of  God's  Word,  and  to-day  I  am  more 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  my  position  than  I  was  then. 

I  am  against  secret  societies  because  God  and  His 
Word  are  against  them,  as  any  one  who  desires  can  clearly 

85 


86  Lucius  B.  Compton 

see.  The  trouble  with  so  many  is,  that  the  "hoodwink" 
that  was  placed  over  their  eyes  when  they  joined  is  still 
there,  blindfolding  their  eyes  from  seeing  the  plain,  posi- 
tive teaching  of  God's  Word,  by  which  all  must  be  judged. 

Brother,  will  you  please  lay  aside  your  biased  mind 
for  a  few  moments,  and  look  with  me  into  the  Scrip- 
tures? Remember  God's  Word  is  forever  settled  in 
heaven,  whether  we  believe  it  or  not.  In  the  fifth  chapter 
and  third  and  fourth  verses  of  Leviticus  are  these  words : 

"Or  if  a  soul  swear,  pronouncing  with  his  lips  to  do 
evil  or  to  do  good,  whatsoever  it  be  that  a  man  shall  pro- 
nounce with  an  oath,  and  it  shall  be  hid  from  him ;  when 
he  knoweth  of  it,  then  he  shall  be  guilty,  and  it  shall  be, 
when  he  shall  be  guilty  in  one  of  these  things,  that  he 
shall  confess  that  he  hath  sinned  in  that  thing." 

Brother,  do  n't  you  have  to  pronounce  with  an  oath 
never  to  reveal  certain  things  when  you  are  taken  into 
a  secret  society,  when  those  things  are  hid  from  you? 
Yes,  certainly,  you  answer.  Then  God  says  you  have 
sinned. 

Now  for  a  moment  let  us  read  2  Cor.  vi,  14-18,  giving 
special  attention  to  the  following: 

"Be  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers : 
for  what  fellowship  have  righteousness  and  iniquity? 
.  .  .  What  portion  hath  a  believer  with  an  unbeliever  ? 
.  .  .  Wherefore  come  ye  out  from  among  them,  and 
be  ye  separate." 

Brother,  is  there  a  secret  society  on  earth  that  you 
can  join  without  yoking  yourself  with  unbelievers?  The 
man  that  becomes  a  Mason  yokes  himself  with  thousands 
of  infidels,  skeptics,  agnostics,  and  atheists.  He  yokes 
himself  with  men  who  call  Jesus  Christ  a  bastard;  he 
yokes  himself  with  an  organization  that  will  not  allow 
Jesus  Christ  to  be  mentioned  in  any  of  the  ceremonies. 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  87 

prayers,  etc.,  because  it  is  objectionable  to  some;  he  yokes 
himself  with  thieves,  murderers,  drunkards,  and  forni- 
cators. O  the  thought  of  the  leading  clergyman  and 
Church  folks  of  to-day  belonging  to  such  a  devil's  hell- 
trap  as  this  is  almost  beyond  all  credence !  The  preacher 
of  to-day  gets  in  his  pulpit,  and  prays  for  power,  and  at 
the  same  time  has  his  neck  in  the  yoke  of  secret  orders. 
Many  are  convicted  at  heart  of  the  wrong,  but  for  their 
oath's  sake,  like  Herod,  they  will  keep  it,  and  stay  among 
them  for  worldly  honor.     Brother,  listen  to  Jesus  again : 

"How  can  ye  believe  which  seek  honor  one  of  another, 
and  seek  not  the  honor  [alone]  that  cometh  from  God 
only."     (John  v,  44.) 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  nominal  Church  is  so 
worldly,  when  the  majority  of  her  ministers  and  members 
are  more  interested  in  their  oath-bound  societies  than  in 
the  secret  chamber  of  prayer,  prevailing  for  a  lost  and 
hell-going  world  ? 

''And  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works 
of  darkness,  but  rather  even  reprove  them ;  for  the  things 
which  are  done  by  them  in  secret  it  is  a  shame  even  to 
speak  of."     (Eph.  v,  11,  12.) 

Secret  orders  do  works  of  darkness  (works  of  secret), 
by  whose  power  our  courts  are  bribed  and  crime  is  never 
revealed.  Very  prominent  Masons  have  told  me,  in 
friendly  conversation,  that  all  they  want  when  they  have 
a  case  in  the  courts  is  to  have  one  or  two  Masons  in  the 
jury-box,  or  a  Masonic  judge  or  opposing  lawyer,  and, 
whether  right  or  wrong,  they  have  little  fear  of  the  result. 

"No  man  can  serve  two  masters:  for  either  he  will 
hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other;  or  else  he  will  hold  to 
the  one,  and  despise  the  other.  Ye  can  not  serve  God 
and  mammon."     (Matt,  vi,  24.) 

Lodge  officers  are  called  by  such  names  as,  "Worship- 


88  Lucius  B.  Compton 

ful  blaster,"  ''Grand  Master,"  and  "Noble  Grand."  Com^ 
pare  this  with : 

"Neither  be  ye  called  masters:  for  one  is  your  Mas- 
ter, even  the  Christ.  But  he  that  is  greatest  among  you 
shall  be  your  servant."     (Matt,  xxiii,  lo,  ii.) 

Why  do  you  belong  to  a  secret  society?  "Because 
when  I  die  they  will  give  me  a  good  burial,  and  give  my 
wife  and  children  a  good  sum  to  maintain  them." 
Brother,  how  does  this  harmonize  with  the  Bible? 

"Cursed  be  the  man  that  trusteth  in  man,  and  maketh 
flesh  his  arm,  and  whose  heart  departeth  from  the  Lord." 
(Jer.  xvii,  5.) 

"Be  not  therefore  anxious,  saying.  What  shall  we  eat? 
or,  What  shall  we  drink?  or,  Wherewithal  shall  we  be 
clothed?  .  .  .  Your  Heavenly  Father  knoweth  that 
ye  have  need  of  all  these  things.  But  seek  ye  first  His 
kingdom,  and  His  righteousness;  and  all  these  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you."     (Matt,  vi,  31-33.) 

"I  have  been  young,  and  now  am  old ;  yet  have  I  not 
seen  the  righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  seed  begging  their 
bread."     (Psa.  xxxvii,  25.) 

As  has  been  mentioned,  the  Masonic  lodge  will  not 
recognize  Jesus  Christ.  Let  us  compare  this  with  God's 
Word: 

"There  is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among 
men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved."     (Acts  iv,  12.) 

"I  am  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life ;  no  man  cometh 
unto  the  Father  but  by  Me."     (John  xiv,  6.) 

"Whosoever  therefore  will  be  ashamed  of  Me  and  of 
My  Word  in  this  adulterous  and  sinful  generation,  of 
him  also  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed  when  He 
cometh  in  the  glory  of  the  Father  with  the  holy  angels." 
(Mark  viii,  38.) 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  condemn  anything  that  God  con- 


The:  Mountain  Evange:i.ist.  89 

demns.  When  God  gave  Ezekiel  a  vision  of  secret  society 
work,  He  boldly  denounced  it. 

God  told  Ezekiel  to  go  into  the  ''hole  in  the  zvall,  and 
see  the  wicked  abominations  that  they  do  in  the  dark 
[in  secret],  every  person  in  his  chambers  of  imagery. 
.  .  .  And  He  brought  me  into  the  inner  court  of  the 
Lord's  house,  and,  behold,  at  the  door  of  the  temple  of 
the  Lord,  between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  were  about 
five  and  twenty  men,  with  their  backs  toward  the  temple 
of  the  Lord,  and  their  faces  toward  the  east;  and  they 
worshiped  the  sun  toward  the  east.  Hast  thou  seen  this, 
O  son  of  man?"  (Ezek.  viii.)  To  be  sure  every  one 
who  has  gone  into  one  of  these  ''holes  in  the  wall"  (that 
is,  into  the  lodge),  has  seen  it. 

Much  m.ore  could  easily  be  said ;  for  example,  that  the 
third  degree  of  Masonry  is  worked  on  a  lie,  saying  that 
Hiram  did  not  finish  his  work,  when  God's  Word  says 
Hiram  did  finish  it.  But  I  forbear,  and  turn  it  all  over 
to  the  God  who  says  He  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden 
things  of  darkness  and  dishonesty. 

Many  tell  me  that  I  have  lost  my  influence  with  a 
great  many  people  by  taking  this  stand  against  secret 
societies  and  for  Bible  holiness ;  but  that  does  not  surprise 
me,  for  Jesus  Christ  did  not  have  influence  enough  to 
keep  Him  off  the  cross ;  Stephen  did  not  have  influence 
enough  to  keep  the  shower  of  stones  from  crushing  out 
his  Hfe;  Paul  did  not  have  influence  enough  to  save  his 
neck;  but  he  had  power  with  God,  and  that  is  what  my 
heart  is  after,  and  if  God  needs  a  martyr  in  Western 
North  Carolina,  I  am  a  candidate  for  the  honor.  Praise 
the  Lord! 


SERMON 

ON  THE 

State  of  the  Soul  after  Death. 


By  Iv.  B.  Cgmpton. 


"But  man  dieth  and  is  laid  low;  yea,  man  giveth  up  the 
ghost,  and  where  is  he  ?" — Job  xiv,  lo. 

This  is  a  text  that  should  interest  every  hearer,  and 
may  God  draw  your  mind  to  it  this  morning!  I  want 
especially  to  call  your  attention  to  this  part :  *'Yea,  man 

GIVETH   UP  THE  GHOST,  AND  WHERE  IS  HE?'' 

My  friends,  do  you  ever  give  this  a  thought:  I  must 
give  up  my  spirit,  and  where  will  it  be?  Beloved,  some 
things  may  be  neglected  without  very  much  loss;  but  I 
want  to  say,  you  can  not  afford  to  neglect  this  all-impor- 
tant question, — 

"Where  Wili.  I  Be?" 

When  death  receives  my  body,  where  will  /  he?  That 
is,  my  spirit;  where  will  it  be?  O  the  solemn  question! 
May  God  fix  it  on  hearts  this  morning!  Beloved,  there 
are  many  of  our  modern  soul-sleepers  who  would  tell 
us  that  we  go  into  the  grave  with  our  cold,  icy  bodies, 
and  there  remain  until  the  trumpet  sounds;  but,  thank 
God!  I  see  something  better  now.  At  one  time  in  my 
early  experience  this  doctrine  of  soul-sleeping  drifted  me 
on  the  island  of  Doubt  and  Fears ;  but  after  a  fresh  study 
of  the  Word  and  some  help  from  the  true  saints,  I  swam 

90 


The:  Mountain  Evangelist.  91 

from  the  island  of  Doubt  to  the  Uving  Rock  of  Christ, 
who  is  Ufe  from  Alpha  to  Omega,  and  there  I  settled  with 
a  living  faith  forever.  Hallelujah  to  God!  And  I  see 
that  no  such  teaching  has  any  place  in  the  Word  of  God, 
although  one  can  see  very  plainly  how  such  teaching  can 
be  produced  by  the  way  the  Authorized  Version  has  ren- 
dered the  word  Sheol. 

The  word  Sheol  is  translated  grave  thirty-one  times 
in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Old  Testament ;  but  the 
Revised  Version  corrects  this,  and  I  am  thankful  that  I 
got  to  studying  the  Revised  Version,  for  it  has  made 
some  things  plain  to  me  that  I  never  saw  in  the  Author- 
ized; so  I  use  the  Revised,  and  all  the  Scripture  I  shall 
give  to-day  will  be  quoted  from  the  Revised,  and  you  can 
distinguish  the  difference.  So  may  the  dear  Lord  teach 
us  this  morning  His  Word,  and  back  it  with  power ! 

Beloved,  the  thought  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to 
this  morning  is  to  the  question  asked  in  my  text :  "Whkre 
IS  He  ?"  or,  when  I  learn,  where  will  I  be  ?  God's  Word 
plainly  teaches  two  places:  one  is  a  place  of  conscious 
happiness,  and  the  other  a  place  of  conscious  torment  and 
misery.  According  to  the  Word,  when  man  departs  this 
life  he  goes  straight  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  places. 

I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  the  word  Sheol  in  the 
Revised  Version.  Scholars  tell  us  that  the  word  Sheol 
in  the  Old  Testament  is  the  same  as  Hades  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  they  never  mean  grave;  and  here  are 
some  of  the  reasons  why  the  word  Sheol  never  means 
grave.  You  never  find  the  word  Sheol  in  the  plural  in 
any  of  the  places  it  is  mentioned.  You  never  read  of  the 
body  going  to  Sheol.  You  never  read  of  Sheol  being 
located  on  the  earth.  Man  never  digs  or  makes  a  Sheol, 
but  all  of  these  points  are  found  in  connection  with  the 
word  grave  and  sepulcher.    Sheol  means  the  place  of  de- 


92  Lucius  B.  Compton 

parted  spirits,  and  not  grave,  as  it  is  rendered  so  many 
limes  in  the  Old  Version.  No  doubt  the  reason  why  the 
old  translators  translated  the  word  Sheol  grave,  is  that 
they  did  not  understand  that  Sheol  was  a  place  of  two 
compartments,  which  the  Scriptures  plainly  teach  was 
before  Christ,  which  we  will  notice  as  we  go  further  in 
this  subject.  The  thought  I -want  to  impress  on  your 
minds  at  present  is: 

That  Sheol  means  the  Place  oe  Departed  Spirits. 

If  you  will  follow  me  in  the  Scriptures,  and  notice 
the  revised  rendering  you  can  see  it  plainly.  Psalms 
xvi,  lo:  "For  thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  to  Sheol, 
neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thy  holy  one  to  see  corruption." 

Beloved,  this  is  a  prophecy  of  our  Lord:  while  His 
body  lay  in  Joseph's  new  tomb,  His  soul  was  in  Sheol  or 
Hades.  This  is  also  made  plain  by  the  quotation  in  the 
second  chapter  of  Acts,  verse  31.  This  also  proves  that 
Sheol  and  Hades  mean  the  same  place.  We  will  notice 
this  again  before  we  get  through.  Another  proof  that 
Sheol  is  the  place  for  the  soul  is  found  in  Psalms  xxx,  3 : 
''O  Jehovah,  thou  hast  brought  up  my  soul  from  Sheol: 
thou  hast  kept  me  alive  that  I  should  not  go  down  to 
the  pit."  And  we  read  again  in  Psalms  xlix,  15:  "But 
God  will  redeem  my  soul  from  the  power  of  Sheol/'  And 
another  place  is  Proverbs  xxiii,  14 :  "Thou  shalt  beat  him 
with  the  rod,  and  shall  deliver  his  soul  from  Sheol/'  And 
another  place  is  Luke  xvi,  23 :  "And  in  Hades,  or  Sheol, 
he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments." 

Beloved,  you  see  that  Sheol  is  a  place  for  the  spirit 
and  not  for  the  body,  and  any  one  who  studies  the  Scrip- 
tures on  this  subject  will  see  the  truth.  I  believe  the  soul- 
sleeping  heresy  has  largely  sprung  from  the  way  the 
Authorized  Version  has  rendered  the  word  Sheo)    grave. 


The:  Mountain  Evangelist.  93 

Beloved,  I  want  to  give  you  a  stronger  proof  yet  that 
Sheol  never  means  grave.  We  read  of  ''Conversations 
in  Sheol,"  and  this  is  never  thought  of  by  any  one  in 
connection  with  the  grave,  and  this  alone  should  be  proof 
that  Sheol  is  not  the  grave,  and  should  stop  the  mouth 
of  every  soul-sleeper.  I  see  something  higher  than  the 
sun  and  deeper  than  a  grave.    Hallelujah ! 

In  three  different  passages  in  God's  Word  we  read  of 
''Conversations  in  Sheol." 

First,  Isaiah  xiv,  10:  Here  we  have  a  remarkable 
conversation.  "All  they  shall  answer  and  say  unto  thee. 
Art  thou  also  become  weak  as  we  ?  Art  thou  become  like 
unto  us?  Thy  pomp  is  brought  down  to  Sheol,  and  the 
noise  of  viols ;  the  worm  is  spread  under  thee,  and  worms 
cover  them."  "How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  day 
star,  son  of  the  morning !  How  art  thou  cut  down  to  the 
ground,  that  didst  lay  low  the  nations,  and  thou  said  in 
thine  heart,  I  will  ascend  into  the  heavens :  I  will  exalt 
my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God."  And  in  the  fifteenth 
verse:  "Yet  thou  shalt  be  brought  down  to  Sheol,  to  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  pit.  They  that  see  thee  shall  nar- 
rowly look  upon  thee,  saying.  Is  this  the  man  that  made 
the  earth  to  tremble ;  that  did  shake  kingdoms ;  that  made 
the  world  as  a  wilderness,  and  overthrew  the  cities 
thereof?" 

Here  is  a  conversation  where  they  are  stirred  up  in 
Sheol  talking  about  their  leader  becoming  as  weak  as  they, 
and  their  leader. is  the  devil,  and  he  is  going  to  lose  his 
hold  on  this  world,  and  will  soon  be  cast  down  and  shut 
up  just  as  weak  and  powerless  as  any  creature  there. 

Beloved,  lift  up  your  hearts  to  Jesus,  and  let  your  faith 
be  cet  on  Him  as  a  conqueror  of  every  foe.  Bless  His 
name  forever!  He  has  prevailed  to  open  the  seals  and 
put  to  naught  the  devil  according  to  His  Word.    (Hebrews 


94  Lucius  B.  Compton 

ii,  14.)  But,  precious  unsaved  souls,  think  of  your  doom 
shut  up  in  the  lowest  Sheol  in  conscious  torment  and 
misery  because  you  neglected  the  great  salvation,  which 
Avas  purchased  for  you  through  Jesus !  God  help  you  to 
see  it  before  mercy's  door  is  forever  closed ! 

We  find,  in  Ezekiel  xxxii,  21,  another  remarkable  con- 
versation in  Sheol :  *'The  strong  among  the  mighty  shall 
speak  to  Him  out  of  the  midst  of  Sheol  with  them  that 
help  Him :  they  are  gone  down,  they  lie  still,  even  the  un- 
circumcised,  slain  by  the  sword." 

Beloved,  what  can  be  said  of  this?  Here  we  read 
language  that  was  uttered  in  Sheol.  None  of  you  believe 
that  this  was  uttered  in  the  grave.  I  have  never  found 
any  one  yet  who  believes  it;  but  it  was  spoken  by  those 
who  were  in  Sheol,  the  place  of  departed  spirits. 

The  next  passage  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  is 
in  the  Lord's  Gospel  of  Luke,  chapter  xvi,  commencing 
with  the  nineteenth  verse  and  continuing  to  the  end  of  the 
chapter.  I  do  not  see  who  can  read  this  and  not  see  that 
Sheol  or  Hades  is  the  place  of  departed  spirits,  and  that 
before  Christ  it  was  a  place  of  two  compartments.  I 
know  many  call  this  a  parable ;  but  Jesus  never  said  it 
was  a  parable,  and  there  is  no  proof  in  the  Word  that  will 
support  the  idea  that  it  is  a  parable.  But,  bless  God !  it 
is  a  matter  of  fact  related  by  Jesus  Himself,  and  the 
Word  will  stand  forever  whether  you  accept  it  or  not. 

All  through  the  Old  Testament  we  read  of  the  saints 
going  down  to  Sheol,  and,  as  I  have  before  stated,  I  be- 
lieve that  is  the  reason  why  the  word  Sheol  in  the  Author- 
ized Version  is  rendered  grave  so  many  times.  It  has 
given  some  chance  for  the  doctrine  of  soul-sleeping;  but, 
thank  God !  by  a  careful  study  of  the  truth,  we  can  see 
something  better  than  a  hole  in  the  ground.     (Amen!) 

It  is  positively  proven  in  the  plain  Word  of  God  that 


%- 


The:  Mountain  Evangelist.  95 

both  saint  and  sinner  went  down  to  Sheol  before  Christ, 
and  no  doubt  the  old  translators  could  not  understand 
how  the  saints  went  to  Sheol,  so  they  rendered  it  grave, 
and  it  has  been  misleading  to  many;  but  the  plain  truth 
of  God  reveals  that  the  spirits  of  all  who  die  go  to  Sheol, 
or  Hades.  The  sinner  goes  down  to  the  lowest  Sheol,  as 
is  revealed  in  Deuteronomy  xxxii,  22:  "For  a  fire  is 
kindled  in  mine  anger,  and  burneth  into  the  lowest  Sheol." 

And,  again,  we  find  where  it  mentions  the  lozvest 
Sheol  in  Psalms  Ixxxvi,  13:  "For  great  is  thy  loving 
kindness  toward  me;  and  thou  hast  delivered  my  soul 
from  the  lowest  Sheol." 

The  one  who  realizes  that  he  has  been  delivered  from 
the  lowest  Sheol  certainly  realizes  it  is  through  the  great 
mercy  of  God.  You  see,  the  sinner  goes  down  to  the 
lowest  Sheol,  and  he  is  tormented  in  the  flames  of  fire. 
As  it  is  clearly  revealed  in  Luke  xvi,  23,  "But  the  saints  in 
their  compartment  are  in  happiness  and  perfect  rest,"  so 
is  it  revealed  in  many  places  which  we  will  notice  before 
we  get  through. 

As  we  search  the  truth,  let  us  pray  for  God  to  give 
us  Divine  wisdom  to  see  His  Word  clearly. 

Now  I  want  to  give  you  some  more  Bible  proof  about 
the  wicked  going  down  to  Sheol.  We  find  in  Job  xxiv, 
19,  "Drought  and  heat  consume  the  snow-waters :  so  doth 
Sheol  those  who  have  sinned;"  and  also  in  Psalms  ix,  17, 
"The  wicked  shall  be  turned  backward  into  Sheol,  even 
all  the  nations  that  forget  God ;"  and  again  we  find  in 
Psalms  Iv,  15,  "Let  death  come  suddenly  upon  them;  let 
them  go  down  alive  into  Sheol,  for  wickedness  is  in  their 
dwelling  in  the  midst  of  them." 

Now  you  see  that  all  of  these  passages  are  "Sheol," 
and  the  wicked  who  die  go  there  in  conscious  torments. 
Beloved,  there  is  no  place  for  soul-sleeping  here. 


96  Lucius  B.  Compton 

I  want  to  show  you  now,  to  prove  the  assertion  that  I 
have  made,  that  the  righteous  saints,  who  died  in  the  Old 
Testament  days,  went  down  to  Sheol,  not  in  torment,  but 
in  a  department  of  conscious  happiness  and  bUss. 

First  read  Genesis  xxxvii,  34,  35 :  ''And  all  his  sons 
and  all  his  daughters  rose  up  to  comfort  him;  but  he 
refused  to  be  comforted ;  and  he  said,  for  I  will  go  down 
to  Sheol  to  my  son  mourning;  and  his  father  wept  for 
him."  The  Authorized  Version  says  grave;  but  if  you 
read  the  thirty-third  verse  it  will  prove  to  you  that  Jacob 
never  meant  grave,  for  Jacob  never  believed  his  son 
Joseph  was  in  a  grave.  He  believed  that  a  wild  beast 
had  devoured  his  body;  so  you  see  that  Jacob  could  not 
go  down  to  the  grave  to  his  son;  but  he  said,  "For  I  will 
go  down  to  Sheol  to  my  son  ;"  and  Jacob  knew  if  the  beast 
had  the  body,  that  Sheol  had  the  soul,  or  spirit. 

Another  Bible  proof  that  the  saints  go  down  to  Sheol 
is  found  in  Job  xiv,  13:  "O  that  thou  wouldest  keep  me 
secret,  until  thy  wrath  be  past!"  Job  did  not  want  to 
go  in  the  grave  and  there  be  hid  until  the  wrath  be  passed, 
but  he  said,  "Hide  me  in  Sheol."  The  grave  is  not  a  de- 
sirable place  to  be  hid,  nor  is  the  thought  of  dying  and 
then,  in  an  unconscious  state,  lying  in  the  grave  until 
the  trumpet  blows,  comforting. 

Bless  God !  I  see  something  better  than  all  of  that. 
(Amen!)  While  death  may  take  the  body  in  the  grave, 
yet  the  spirit  will  fly  away  to  sweet  rest,  and  conscious 
happiness.     Hallelujah ! 

Aother  remarkable  Scripture  on  this  subject  is  found 
in  Isaiah  xxxviii,  10.  Here  we  read  of  Hezekiah,  the 
man  who  called  God's  attention  to  how  he  had  lived  and 
walked  before  Him  with  a  perfect  heart.  And  God  heard 
his  prayer,  and  saved  him  from  death,  and  added  to  his 
days  fifteen  years.     Now  I  want  you  to  hear  what  this 


The;  Mountain  Evangelist.  97 

man  said  when  he  thought  he  was  going  to  die.  He  said, 
"I  said,  in  the  noontide  of  my  days  I  shall  go  into  the 
gates  of  Sheol." 

Another  remarkable  passage,  stating  that  both  saved 
and  unsaved  go  down  to  Sheol,  is  found  in  the  twenty- 
eighth  chapter  of  First  Samuel.  If  you  will  read  that 
chapter  you  will  find  where  King  Saul  got  into  trouble 
and  backslid  from  God,  and  could  not  get  any  message 
from  heaven.  He  was  like  all  backsliders.  When  he 
disobeyed  God,  he  failed  to  get  his  prayers  through.  Saul 
sought  comfort  the  wrong  way.  He  went  to  the  witch 
of  Endor  and  deceived  her,  and  had  her  call  up  Samuel, 
so  he  could  tell  him  what  to  do.  And  when  the  witch 
saw  Samuel  she  was  afraid,  and  she  knew  that  it  was 
Saul  who  had  called  him. 

I  tell  you,  beloved,  that  the  powers  of  hell  tremble 
when  a  holy  prophet  of  God  arises.     (Amen !) 

And  now  I  want  to  read  to  you  a  few  passages  from 
this  chapter,  so  you  may  see  the  truth  that  I  want  to  im- 
press upon  you  in  the  thirteenth  verse :  "And  the  woman 
said  unto  Saul,  I  see  a  God  coming  up  out  of  the  earth." 
You  see  here  that  God  permitted  this  witch  to  call  Samuel 
up  from  Sheol  to  deliver  the  final  message  to  King  Saul. 
And  Samuel  said  to  Saul,  **Why  hast  thou  disquieted  me 
to  bring  me  up  ?"  Now  the  thought  I  wanted  to  call  your 
attention  to  is  that  Samuel  said  to  Saul  in  the  nineteenth 
verse :  "]\Ioreover,  Jehovah  will  deliver  Israel  also  with 
thee  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines,  and  to-morrow  shalt 
thou  and  thy  sons  be  with  me."  The  thought  is  *'Be  with 
me  to-morrow." 

Beloved,  if  you  will  study  this  carefully,  you  will  see 

it  does  not  mean  the  grave,  because  Saul  the  next  day 

killed  himself,  and  his  sons  were  killed,  and  their  bodies 

were  not  buried  for  many  days ;  so  you  see,  beloved,  that 

7 


98  Lucius  B.  Compton 

Samuel  did  not  mean  their  bodies  would  be  in  the  grave 
with  his,  but  he  meant  that  to-morrow  their  souls  or  spir- 
its would  be  with  his  in  Sheol.  And,  no  doubt,  while 
Samuel  was  in  perfect  happiness  in  Sheol,  Saul  the  king 
was  in  conscious  torments ;  for  he  was  a  sinner.  While 
both  went  to  the  same  place,  yet  there  was  a  "great  gulf 
fixed,''  as  our  Lord  said  in  Luke's  Gospel,  xvi,  26.  Let 
us  turn  to  that  chapter,  and  read  from  the  twenty-second 
verse :  "And  it  came  to  pass  that  the  beggar  died,  and  that 
he  was  carried  away  by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom : 
and  the  rich  man  also  died  and  was  buried,  and  in  Hades 
he  lifted  up  his  eyes  being  in  torments,  and  seeth  Abraham 
afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom.  And  he  cried  and 
said.  Father  Abraham,  have  mercy  on  me  and  send  Laza- 
rus that  he  may  dip  the  top  of  his  finger  in  water  and  cool 
my  tongue ;  Tor  I  am  in  anguish  in  this  flame.  But  Abra- 
ham said,  Son,  remember  that  thou  in  thy  lifetime  re- 
ceived thy  good  things,  and  Lazarus  in  like  manner  evil 
things:  but  now  here  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  in 
anguish.  And  besides  all  this,  between  us  and  you  there 
is  a  great  gulf  fixed."  I  wanted  to  read  this  so  you  might 
get  it  clear  in  your  minds,  that  both  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus  were  in  Sheol  or  Hades,  and  there  could  be  con- 
versation between  them,  yet  one  could  be  in  happiness 
and  the  other  in  anguish. 

Beloved,  I  am  not  trying  to  give  you  something  that 
God's  own  Word  does  not  teach,  but  I  am  trying  to  show 
you  that  the  doctrine  of  soul-sleeping  is  not  Scriptural. 
I  was  bothered  with  this  heresy  for  many  months  by  a 
book  that  was  put  in  my  hand  when  I  was  a  young  spir- 
itual calf,  just  beginning  to  pick  the  grass  of  the  truth; 
and  very  often  I  would  get  a  poison  weed  in  my  mouth 
and  chew  it  up,  thinking  it  was  good  food,  and  afterwards 
find  I  was  poisoned ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  poisoned  weeds 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  99 

the  devil  tried  to  stuff  me  with.  But,  thank  God!  I  have 
gotten  over  it.    Hallelujah ! 

Beloved,  remember  the  text :  **Yea,  man  giveth  up  the 
ghost,  and  where  is  he?" 

If  Jesus  tarries,  you  will  have  to  give  up  the  ghost, 
and  where  will  you  be  ?  Do  you  think  of  it  ?  Are  you  sure 
that  God  bears  witness  to  you  that  you  belong  to  those 
who  are  saved?  Or  are  you  in  doubt?  You  can  not  be 
unsettled  in  .nis ;  you  must  depart  to  be  with  those  in  con- 
scious bliss,  or  with  those  in  conscious  torment. 

Now,  I  want  to  show  you  that  our  blessed  Lord,  when 
He  gave  up  His  body  in  death,  went  down  to  Sheol  or 
Hades,  as  it  is  related  in  Acts  ii,  31,  **That  neither  was 
He  left  in  Hades  or  Sheol,  nor  did  His  flesh  see  corrup- 
tion." And  again  we  find  that  He  was  in  Hades  while 
His  body  was  in  Joseph's  new  tomb,  in  Matthew  xii,  40 : 
''For  as  Jonah  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
belly  of  the  whale,  so  shall  the  Son  of  man  he  three  days 
and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth/' 

Now  compare  this  with  what  Jesus  said  to  the  dying 
thief  on  the  cross  in  Luke  xxiii,  43,  while  they  both  were 
hanging  on  the  cross  in  the  very  jaws  of  death.  The 
thief  said,  ''J^sus,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  in 
thy  kingdom ;  and  Jesus  said.  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  To- 
day shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in  paradise." 

And  now  turn  with  me  and  read  Romans  x,  7,  "Who 
shall  descend  into  the  abyss  f'  that  is,  to  bring  Christ  up 
from  the  dead. 

Beloved,  who  can  read  this  and  not  see  that  at  one 
time  a  compartment  of  Sheol  or  Hades  was  paradise  for 
the  departed  spirits  of  God's  saints?  No  wonder  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  with  his  prophetic  eye,  could  say  as  in 
Isaiah  xliv,  23,  ''Shout,  ye  lower  parts  of  the  earth."  All 
the  Old  Testament  saints  had  been  shut  up  in  Abraham's 


loo  Lucius  B.  Compton 

bosom,  or  in  Sheol,  waiting  for  the  coming  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  who  was  to  come  and  spill  His  precious  blood 
on  the  cruel  cross  to  make  redemption  complete;  and 
when  He  cried,  "It  is  finished!"  He  gave  His  body  in 
death  to  be  laid  in  the  tomb,  but  His  Spirit  descended 
into  Hades,  and  there  He  proclaimed  to  the  spirits  in 
prison  the  complete  redemption  He  had  purchased,  and 
there  He  met  with  the  dying  thief  according  to  promise, 
and  there  they  had  a  wonderful  shout  of  victory,  and 
every  little  demon  in  the  pit  had  to  bow  and  confess  with 
his  mouth  that  Christ  was  the  conqueror  of  heaven, 
earth,  and  hell.    O  hallelujah ! 

I  am  glad  I  bow  to  Him  here  in  probation,  and  con- 
fess Him  here,  and  love  Him  here,  and  I  have  the  assur- 
ance I  shall  see  Him  in  peace.  O  glory!  it  is  wonderful 
to  know !     Glory ! ! 

Beloved,  before  closing  this  subject,  I  want  to  call 
your  attention  to  another  Scripture  showing  that  the  Old 
Testament  saints  were  called  Prisoners  of  Hope,  shut  up 
in  waiting  for  the  complete  redemption  through  Christ's 
blood. 

Turn  with  me  to  Zechariah,  ninth  chapter,  commenc- 
ing with  the  eleventh  verse :  "As  for  thee  also,  because  of 
the  blood  of  thy  covenant  I  have  sent  forth  thy  prisoners 
out  of  the  pit  wherein  is  no  water.  Turn  you  to  the 
stronghold,  ye  Prisoners  of  Hope:  even  to-day  do  I  de- 
clare that  I  will  render  double  unto  thee." 

Beloved,  can  not  you  imagine  there  was  a  wonderful 
shout  among  the  Prisoners  of  Hope  when  Christ  spilt  the 
last  drop  of  blood  and  then  descended  to  lead  captivity 
captive?  No  wonder  the  prophet  said,  "Shout,  ye  lower 
parts  of  the  earth!"  It  makes  me  shout  just  to  read  it 
and  know  it  is  real  (Amen!),  and  to  know  that  Jesus 
has  never  made  a  promise  that  he  has  not  or  will  not  ful- 


SOLINE 


The  Mountain  Evangelist.  ioi 

fill ;  so,  beloved,  believe  Him,  trust  Him.  Shout  the  vic- 
tory in  the  face  of  every  enemy,  for  Jesus  is  faithful. 
Bless  His  name  forever! 

Now,  in  conclusion,  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to 
another  Scripture  in  John  xx,  17,  where  He  arose  from 
the  dead  and  said  unto  Mary,  "Touch  Me  not,  for  I  am 
not  yet  ascended  unto  the  Father ;  but  go  unto  My  breth- 
ren, and  say  to  them,  I  ascend  unto  My  Father,  and  your 
Father;  and  My  God,  and  your  God."  What  an  honor 
to  that  precious  woman  to  carry  the  news  of  her  risen 
Lord !  And  no  doubt  while  she  was  gone  to  bear  the  mes- 
sage, the  Lord  ascended  to  the  Father  and  made  His  re- 
port. And,  as  Paul  taught  in  Ephesians  iv,  8,  "When 
He  [Christ]  ascended  up  on  high.  He  led  captivity  cap- 
tive," or,  as  the  margin  says,  "a  multitude  of  captives." 
So  you  see  by  this,  beloved,  that  when  the  Lord  ascended 
He  led  the  Old  Testament  saints  from  Sheol  to  the  third 
heaven,  where  Paul  was  caught  up  when  he  was  stoned  to 
death,  as  related  in  Acts  xiv,  19,  20.  His  body  was  under 
the  shower  of  stones  while  his  spirit  was  caught  up  to  the 
third  heaven,  and  heard  words  not  lawful  to  utter;  but 
whether  in  or  out  of  the  body,  he  could  not  tell.  This  is 
certainly  a  denial  of  soul-sleeping. 

Another  passage  that  proves  the  spirit  that  departs 
from  the  body  is  present  with  the  Lord,  is  found  in  Second 
Corinthians  v,  6-8.  Another  that  proves  that,  when  we 
die,  we  are  with  the  Lord,  is  in  PhiHppians  i,  23.  Friend, 
listen  how  this  reads:  "But  I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt  the 
two,  having  the  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ;  for 
it  is  very  far  better." 

Beloved,  Paul  did  not  believe  in  soul-sleeping,  but  he 
knew  that  when  his  spirit  left  the  body  it  would  be  with 
the  Lord ;  and,  beloved,  we  never  read  of  any  saint  going 
down  to  Sheol  or  Hades  now ;  for  when  Christ  rose  He 


102  Lucius  B.  Compton 

was  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept ;  and  when  He  as- 
cended He  took  all  the  saints  with  Him;  and  when  He 
comes  He  will  bring  the  saints  with  Him,  and  they  will 
at  that  time  receive  their  glorified  bodies,  and  shall  "be 
kings  and  priests  unto  God."  O  glory  to  God,  I  am 
looking  for  my  King !  I  am  looking  for  something  much 
brighter  than  the  grave,  although  if  death  should  get 
my  body,  I  would  fly  away  to  be  with  Christ.  Glory  to 
God  forever! 

Now,  can  you  see  anything  in  this  that  will  give  the 
poor  lost  soul  any  chance  of  repentance  after  death? 
There  is  not  a  passage  in  the  Word  that  gives  any  hope 
of  a  second  probation. 

1  want  to  say,  as  you  leave  this  world  so  will  you  be 
through  all  eternity.  So,  my  precious,  unsaved  soul,  seek 
the  Lord  while  He  may  be  found;  call  upon  Him  while 
He  is  near.  The  loving  Savior  is  calling  to  you.  Hear 
Him  while  mercy's  door  is  open. 

O  the  thought  of  rejecting  God!  No  soul-sleeping — 
no  second  chance — but  forever  banished  from  the  pres- 
ence of  God,  if  you  fail  to  repent  here!  But  to  you  who 
are  saved,  rest  in  God  and  let  Him  sanctify  you  wholly, 
and  then,  whether  you  wake  or  sleep,  you  are  all  His. 
Bless  His  dear  name! 


